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THE  ROBERT  E.  COWAN  COLLECTION 

PRESKNTED   TO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIH 


C.  P.  HUNTINGTON 

•     cJUNE,   18Q7, 

Hccession  No.  7^^^^  ^  Class  No.i^.  5^ 


r 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/englishlanguagesOOsaulrich 


f  ■  \  ^ 

i  TUB  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE:  j 

SUGGESTIONS  FORI  ITS 


CORRECT  AND   FLUENT  USE 


AYITHOUT  TECHNICAL  GKAMMAK, 

BY 

S.    S.    SA.XTI.. 


Truth    lies  on  the  summit  of  a   beautiful  uiountain ; 

not  "  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  tvell.'*  t 


'Definitions,  they  say  at  Colleg-e, 
Are  the  Keys  to  Knowledge 


•8AN  LEANDRO,  CALIFORNIA 


(b\  FEINTED  FOR  THE  ALTHOU  BY  B.  F.  STERETT. 

^  1877. 

PRICE    FIFTY    CENTS. 


THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE: 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  ITS 

CORRECT  AND   FLUENT  USE 

WITHOUT  TECHNICAL  GEAMMAR, 

BY 

\ 

S.    S.    SA.TJ3L. 


Truth  lies  on  the  summit  of  a  beautiful  m,ountain; 
not  "  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep  well.** 


"Definitions,  they  say  at  Collegre, 
Are  the  Keys  to  Knowledge.' 


SAN    LEANDRO; 

PBINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOB  BY  B.  F.  STKBETT. 

1877. 
PRICE   FIFTY    CENTS. 


^i'llo   Z 


f£l(n.S3Y.ie7ZP^y  ^^^^ 

DEDICATION.  f^NP^siTY 

This  work  is  respectfully  dedicated  to  those  who 
studied  grammar  without  benefit,  those  who  have  for- 
gotten all  they  ever  did  study,  and  those  who  never 
studied  it  at  all. 

The  author's  vocations  in  life — teacher,  clerk,  editor, 
and  newspaper  and  magazine  contributor — have  given 
him  excellent  opportunities  for  understanding  the  wants 
of  those  to  whom  it  is  dedicated. 

The  following  extract  and  letter  show  his  early  bent 
for  matters  of  education,  to  which  he  is  now  giving  his 
riper  years  : 

Mr.  S.  S.  Saul  has  been  appointed  Principal  of  the  *•  first  male" 
school  of  Huntingdon,  vice  Albert  Owen,  appointed  County 
Superintendent. — Pennsylvania  School  Journal,  Aiiyust  1855. 


Huntingdon,  July  29,  1856. 
S.  S.  Saul,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir :  The  undersigned.  Board  of  Trustees  of  Huntingdon, 
have  received  your  note  resigning  your  situation  as  Principal  of 
the  First  Male  school  of  our  district.  Its  tone  is  peremptory,  or  we  . 
should  hope  that  your  purpose  might  be  changed,  and  the  school 
continued  under  your  care.  Permit  us,  however,  to  express  our 
regret  that  you  have  been  compelled — urged  by  your  better  judg- 
ment, from  some  good  cause — to  leave  us.  Your  zeal,  your  efficiency 
and  success  prove  your  earnest  devotion  to  the  well-being  of  the 
school ;  to  the  intellectual  progress  and  moral  culture  of  the 
scholars  and  make  your  withdrawal  from  the  school  a  public  loss, 
and  one  not  readily  supplied.  We  should  not  be  true  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  cause  of  education  did  we  not  wish  you  God-speed,  and 
commend  you  to  the  kind  consideration  of  all  engaged  in  a  cause 
so  vital  to  our  race  and  nation. 

Iea  E.  Wallace,    A.  W.  Benedict, 
M.  F.Campbell,     Wm.  Kothbock, 
Wm.  Glasg  w. 
San  Leandro,  Cal.,  January  1,  1877. 


[     4     ] 

TO   CRITICS. 

Ciiticisers  of  this  book  will  please  to  bear  constantly 
in  mind  that  the  author  aims  to  be  of  use  to  those  who 
have  received  no  benefit  from  the  methods  now  in  use 
for  accomplishing  what  his  little  work  modestly  proposes 
to  accomplifcjh.  AH  who  have  given  the  matter  attention 
know  that  ^  very  large  percentage,  much  more  than  a 
moiety  of  those  who  begin  ine  study  of  grammar,  after 
a  '*  sorry  tug''  at  it  give  it  up  in  despair  and  disgust. 
These,  at  least,  will  receive  it  thankfully,  not  one  of 
whom  will,  it  is  with  great  confidence  presumed,  lay  it 
aside  without  a  thorough  study  of  it. 


INTRODUCTION. 

When  the  forces  of  Nature  have  been  fully  conquered 
to  man's  use — when  labor  has  been  economized  to  the 
highest  degree — when  education  has  been  so  systematized 
that  a  preparation  for  the  more  essential  activities  may 
be  made  with  comparative  rapidity — and  when,  conse- 
quently, there  is  a  great  increase  of  spaie  time,  then 
will  the  poetry  of  both  Art  and  Nature  rightly  fill  a  lai'ge 
space  in  the  minds  of  all.  So  says  an  eminent  and  wise 
writer. 

Long  continued  belief  in  any  doctrine  or  philosophy* 
is  not  proof  of  its  truth,  nor  is  the  long  practice  of  a 
habit  proof  of  its  correctness.  In  the  light,  if  I  may  say 
so,  of  our  superior  wisdom,  we  lay  aside  the  philosophies 
and  practices  of  other  times,  and  substitute  for  them 
new  philosophies  and  new  jjractices.     Change  with  us 

*  Philosophy,  literally,  the  love  of  wisdom.  But  in  modern  acceptation, 
philosophy  is  a  general  term  denoting  an  explanation  of  the  reason  of  things  ; 
or  an  investigation  of  the  causes  of  ail  phenomena,  both  of  mind  and  matter. 


[     5     ] 

is  happily  called  progress.  In  our  onward  and  upward 
march  we  change  our  ways  of  living,  our  dress — (Mr. 
Longfellow,  in  a  lecture  on  Change,  contrasting  the 
exquisite  ladies'  hats  of  to-day  with  the  long  ''coal 
scuttle"  bonnet  prevalent  in  his  youth,  said  he  had  to  go 
down  a  lane  to  kiss  his  sweetheart ;) — change  our  treat- 
ment of  one  another,  our  manner  of  avenging  wrongs  and 
disciplining  wTong-doers  ;  our  modes  of  manufacture  ; 
our  ways  of  transit ;  our  manner  of  medical  treatment ; 
our  ways  of  teaching  and  imparting  knowledge  ;  cease 
to  believe  the  world  flat  w^hen  we  find  it  round,  and  so 
on.  And  all  this  we  style  progress.  We  truthfully 
claim  that  we,  in  our  day,  have  better  and  less  tedious 
ways  of  doing  things  than  our  ancestors  had  ;  in  other 
w^ords,  that  we  have  a  higher  civilization. 

In  an  able  article  in  a  leading  magazine,  it  is  said. 
The  chief  aim  of  philosophers  of  all  ages  has  been  to 
explain  the  character  of  the  laws  of  the  human  mind, 
and  of  late  years  we  have  learned  that  the}^  w^asted  most 
of  their  time  and  labor  because  they  did  not  know  that 
Psycology*  is  a  branch  of  Physiology, f  and  that  they 
could  not  make  any  safe  progress  without  recognizing 
the  brain  as  the  material  organ  of  thought  and  sensation. 
The  philosophy  of  the  present,  he  says,  is  a  repudiation 
of  most  of  that  of  the  past.  The  American  Cyclopaedia 
says.  Sir  W.  Hamilton's  system  revolutionizes  the  wJiole 
system  of  logic  as  commenced  by  Aristotle  and  elaborated 
by  his  followers,  down  to  Hamilton's  time. 

Grammar  is   defined   the   science   of  language,  and 

*  Paycology— A  discourse  or  treatise  on  the  human  soul,  or  the  doctrine  of 
man's  spiritual  nature 

t  Physiology— According  to  the  Greek,  this  word  signifies  a  treatise  or  dis- 
course of  Nature:  but  the  modems  use  the  word  in  a  more  limited  sense,  for 
the  scieuce  of  the  formations  of  all  the  parts  or  organs  of  animals  and  plants, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  oflaces  which  they  perform  in  the  economy  of  the 
indii^idual. 


r  6  ] 

English  Grammar,  the  art  of  speaking  and  wiiting  the 
English  language  with  propriety.  To  teach  this  art  a 
process  is  in  use,  the  basis  of  which  is  classification,* 
the  main  feature  of  the  classification  being  the  divLsion 
of  the  words  of  the  language  into  ''  parts  of  speech," 
producing  an  infinity  of  explanations,  **  rules"  and 
'*  notes,"  enunciatingf  the  '*  principles"  of  the  process, 
and  the  ''government"  resulting  from  these  ''prin- 
ciples.-" Many  persons,  some  of  fine  intellect  and  great 
learning,  and  others  with  much  philological  J  lore,  and 
still  others  with  exceedingly  fine  talents  for  the  discovery 
of  the  principles  upon  which  the  language  is  founded 
and  the  laws  which  govern  its  use,  have  almost  unquali- 
fiedly condemned  this  process.  A  process  so  condemned 
must  be  very  faulty,  if  not  completely  bad. 

At  a  State  Teachers'  Institute,  held  in  san  Erancisco, 
(where  teach e is  are  paid  the  highest  wages  paid  in  the 
United  States),  some  years  ago,  the  gentleman  then  at 
the  head  of  the  Normal  School  of  that  State,  said  that 
at  a  meeting  of  grammar  masters  of  San  Francisco, 
which  was  held  to  discuss  the  claims  and  merits  of  dif- 
ferent grammars,  the  teachers  were  all  united  in  one 
opinion,  and  that  was  that  they  had  been  unsuccessful 
in  teaching  grammar.  This  gentleman  went  on  to  say 
further  that  while  there  were  no  parents  present  to  listen, 
these  grammar  masters  spoke  their  minds  freely,  and 
agreed  that  a  great  deal  of  time  is  spent  in  teaching 
children  in  grammar  what  they  forget  as  soon  as  they 
get  out  of  school,  and  the  result  sought  is  not  attained. 
He  deprecated  the  present  s^^stem  of  grammar,  and 
favored  freedom  from  arbitrary  rules  ;  and  when  asked 
for  a  practical  method  for  carrying  out  his  views,  he 

*  Classification— Distribution  into  sets,  sorts,  or  ranks. 

t  Enunciating — Declaring  ;  pronouncing. 

t  Philological—Pertaining  to  the  study  and  knowledge  of  language. 


[71 

answered  that  if  he  could  give  that  he  would  be  entitle'd 
to  as  tall  a  monument  as  could  be  erected.  Another 
prominent  educationist  said,  on  the  same  occasion,  that 
he  thought  grammar  should  not  be  taught  as  a  science, 
nor  from  a  text  book  ;  and  another  offered  a  resolution 
that  the  time  spent  in  the  ordinary  modes  of  teachiag 
grammar  is  nearly  all  lost.  After  a  very  strong  expres- 
sion of  the  Institute,  favoring  these  ideas,  a  gentleman, 
who  Avas  afterwards  elected  State  Superintendant  of 
Schools,  said  the  ideas  were  not  new  ;  that  the  same 
ideas  had  been  expounded  many  years  ago  in  institu- 
tions both  in  France  and  Geimany  ;  and  he  gave  it  as 
his  opinion  that  children  only  begin  to  learn  how  to  use 
language  after  they  have  forgotten  all  about  grammar. 
The  Superintendent  of  Schools  of  Oakland  City,  a  highly 
educated  gentleman,  said,  at  an  educational  meeting 
held  in  that  city,  that  a  child,  after  learning  all  about 
the  parts  of  speech  and  the  rules  of  grammar,  would  sit 
down  and  write  miserable  English.  Another  prominent 
educator  in  California  spoke  of  Goold  BrowVs  Gram- 
mar :.s  failing  altogether  to  make  grammarians.  An 
able  waiter  in  one  of  the  periodicals  of  the  day,  says  : 
**  There  is  something  radically  wrong  in  our  method  of 
teaching  grammar."  Goold  Brown  himself,  in  his  gram- 
mar of  grammars,  says,  that  after  exhausting  gram- 
matical lore  he  can  find  no  scientific  principles  in 
grammar.  Antedating  these  more  than  three  hundred 
years  is  a  protest  against  classification  by  Lord  Bacon. 
In  his  Advancement  of  Learning  he  says:  ''Another 
error  is  the  over  early  and  peremptory  reduction  of  all 
knowledge  into  arts  and  methods."  You  will  notice 
that  no  particular  text-book  is  sought  to  be  condemned 
more  than  another,  but  the  system  upon  which  they  are 
all  built.  Brown's  book  is  spoken  of  by  the  criticisers, 
not  because  they  consider  it  an  inferior  work,  but  because 


18] 

they  condemn  the  system  in  view  of  one  of  its  best 
exponents. 

The  learned  editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  Edu- 
cation, in  his  introduction  to  his  work,  "  Exercises  on 
words"  says,  *'  Our  existing  modes  of  education,  as  re- 
gards our  language,  are  so  exceedingly  lirtiited  and  im- 
perfect, that,  in  the  course  of  nearly  forty  years  experi- 
ence in  public  and  private  instruction,  in  the  department 
of  rhetoric,  the  author  of  the  present  work  has  found 
few  individuals,  either  among  practical  teachers,  or  the 
graduates  of  our  colleges,  whose  language  would  bear 
the  test,  when  tried  by  the  standard  of  mere  grammatical 
or  orthographical  accuracy.  The  exercises,  (says  he 
further),  suggested  in  this  manual,  to  the  student  of 
rhetoric,  may  seem  sometimes  of  too  elementary  a 
character  to  be  practically  useful.  But  it  is  these  rudi- 
mental  forms  of  culture  and  discipline  that  our  established 
forms  of  education  are  most  deficient  in,  and  practice  in 
these  is  what  is  most  needed  in  the  process  of  training 
for  correct  habit."  A  highly  gifted  young  lady  author, 
and  a  teacher  in  California,  in  a  charming  essay  read  at 
a  State  Teacher's  Institute,  said:  ''  I  hope  a  witch  may 
come  some  time  riding  on  her  broom-stick,  and  sweep 
the  scientic  and  obstruse  grammar  of  to-day  through  the 
open  door  of  the  High  School;  while  at  the  same  time 
some  beneficent  spirit  will  drop  down  upon  us  a  reason- 
able grammar.'' 

It  is  very  clear  that  some  readily  understood  method 
of  acquiring  the  ability  to  use  the  mother  tongue  cor- 
rectly, to  supplant  the  present  obstruse,  hard  to  under- 
stand method,  is  eagerly  sought  by  many,  and  will  be 
hailed  as  a  great  boon  when  presented. 

In  the  material  world  he  who  shortens  ever  so  little 
the  labor  of  producing,  is  hailed  as  a  benefactor  and 
rewarded  with  wealth  and  honor.     Should  this,  or  any 


I     9     ] 

other  effort  result  in  removing  even  a  tithe  of  the  diffi- 
culties now  encountered  in  attaining  to  the  use  of  the 
vernacular,*  the  benefit  conferred  by  it  could  not  be 
measured  by  a  less  standard  than  that  erected  for  great 
inventors.  Classification  causes  the  trouble.  Its  found- 
ation being  arbitrary,  as  the  most  learned  admit,  its 
*'  principles,  rules,  notes  and  explanations,"  and  all  its 
formula  are  unphilosopical  and  sapless,  and,  therefore, 
to  use  the  words  of  the  distinguished  educationist  already 
quoted,  the  time  spent  in  conning  them  over  is  almost 
entirely  lost. 

The  following  extract  from  a  grammar  in  extensive 
use  in  Pennsylvania  and  some  other  States,  shows  the 
trouble  of  classifying  even  the  very  first,  and  as  is  sup- 
posed, the  very  simplest  ''part  of  speech,^'  made  by 
this  classification: 

*'  Noun,  derived  from  the  Latin  word  nomen,  signifies 
name.  The  name  of  any  thing  that  exists;  whether 
animate  or  inanimate,  or  which  we  can  see,  hear,  feel, 
taste,  smell,  or  think  of,  is  a  noun.  Animal,  bird, 
creature,  paper,  pen,  apple,  field,  house,  modesty,  vii^tue, 
danger,  are  all  nouns.  In  order  that  you  may  easily  dis- 
tinguish this  part  of  speech  from  others,  I  will  give  you 
a  sign,  which  will  be  useful  to  3^ou  when  you  cannot  tell 
it  by  the  sense.  Any  word  that  will  make  sense  with  the 
before  it,  is  a  noun.  Try  the  following  words  by  this 
sign,  and  see  if  they  are  nouns:  tree,  mountain,  soul, 
mind,  conscience,  understanding.  The  tree,  the  moun- 
tain, the  soul,  and  so  on.  You  perceive,  that  they  will 
make  sense  with  the  prefixed;  therefore  you  know  they 
are  nouns.  There  are,  however,  exceptions  io  this  rule, 
for  some  nouns  will  not  make  sense  with  the  prefixed. 
These  you  will  be  able  to  distinguish,  if  you  exercise 

*  Vernacular— Native ;  belonging  to  tlie  country  of  one's  birth.    English  is 
our  vernacular  language. 


[     10     ] 

your  mind,  by  their  making  sense  of  themselves;  as,  good- 
ness, sobriety,  liope^  immortality. 

Nouns  are  used  to  denote  the  nonentity  or  absence  of 
a  thing,  as  well  as  its  reality;  as,  nothing,  naught,  vacancy, 
non- existence ,  inv isibility . 

Nouns  are  sometimes  used  as  verbs,  and  verbs,  as 
nouns,*  according  to  their  manner  and  meaning ;  and 
nouns  are  sometimes  used  as  adjectives,  and  adjectives, 
as  nouns." 

But  after  all  the  great  multitude  of  *'  principles,  rules, 
notes,  explanations,  and  exceptions,"  etc.,  have  been 
exh  lusted,  there  are  some  expressions  which  are  strictly 
grammatical,  that  cannot  be  disposed  of  '*  parsed  '^  even 
by  the  grammar  makers  themselves.  These  ''  out-laws" 
are  called  anomalies.  The  following  are  some  of  them 
as  given  by  works  on  grammar: 

*'  The  wall  is  three  feet  high."  "  His  son  is  eight 
years  old."  "-  My  knife  is  worth  a  shilling.''  '*  She  is 
worth  him  and  all  his  connexions."  He  has  been  there 
three  times.''  *'  The  hat  cost  ten  dollars."  ''  The  load 
weighs  a  tun."     *'  The  spar  measures  ninety  feet." 

At  school  Home  Tooke  was  asked  why  he  put  a  cer- 
tain word  in  some  case  or  mood,  and  answered,  *'  I 
don't  know,"  for  which  he  was  instantly  flogged. 
Another  boy  was  then  asked  who  repeated  the  grammar 
rule  and  secured  Tooke's  place  in  the  class.  At  this 
Tooke  cried.  His  master  asked  him  why  he  cried,  and 
he  replied,  *'  I  knew  the  rule  as  well  as  he  did  but  you 
did  not  ask  for  the  rule  but  for  the  reason.  You  asked 
why  it  is  so,  and  that  I  do  not  know  now.  His  teacher 
gave  him  a  Virgil  in  memory  of  the  injustice  done  him, 
of  which  Yirgil  Tooke  was  very  proud  in  after  life. 
Here  is  the  key  note  to  what  we  want:  a  system  founded 
in  reason.  A  something  by  which  we  can  tell  the  why. 
When  you  give  exact  utterance  to  your  thoughts  the 


[  11  ] 

utmost  that  grammar,  rhetoric  and  elocution  can  do  ia 
achieved,  and  we  may  add  that  language  is  correctly 
and  perfectly  used  when  it  gives  perfect  expression  to 
thought  and  emotion .  This  is  the  only  true  grammatical 
test,  and  it  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  recognised  in 
any  rational  method  for  teaching  composition,  or  the 
correct  use  of  language.  If  we  say  one  and  one  are 
two,  or  twice  one  are  two,  can  we  give  any  reason  for 
the  truth  we  state  ?  The  fact  is  there  is  no  reason  to  be 
given.  It  is  a  simple  unexplainable  truth,  to  which  an 
answer  like  that  of  Tooke's  must  be  given  if  a  reason  is 
asked.  So  when  we  write  *'  John  "  we  simply  mean  that 
an  individual  is  referred  to  and  represented  by  the  word, 
and  when  we  attempt,  through  the  aid  of  an  arbitrary 
system  to  give  explanations  for  the  existence  and  use  of 
the  word  we  only  mystify,  and  make  the  use  of  language 
hard  to  learn.  The  definition  of  '*  adverb"  given  by 
the  grammarians  is  a  word  added  to  a  word .  Wherein 
lies  the  science  or  philosophy  in  this  ?  In  composition 
each  word  is  an  added  word  after  the  first  one,  that  is  if 
we  allow  at  all  the  expression  a  word  added  to  a  word. 
"Webster  in  his  Dictionary  says:  *'This  part  of  speech 
might  be  more  significantly  named  a  modifier  as  it  is 
used  to  modify.  The  term  adverb  denoting  position 
merely  is  often  improper."  Take  an  example  from  the 
title  page  of  the  well  known  work  on  parliamentary  law, 
**  Jefferson's  Manual.'^  It  illustrates  the  absurdity  of 
the  *'  possessive  case"  completely.  Neither  of  the  words 
imply  possession  at  all,  and  when"  a  teacher  instructs  a 
pupil  to  say  that  Jefferson  is  in  the  possessive  case 
because  it  implies  possession,  he  tells  a  falsehood  J  ef- 
ferson's  is  used  to  tell  who  wrote  the  book  and  not  to  tell 
who  owns  or  possesses  the  book.  The  expressions, 
John's  boots  and  Jefferson^s  Manual,  are  in  no  way 
alike.     In  the  first  example  the  *'  possessive  '^  word  tells 


[     12    ] 

that  John  owns  the  boots.  In  the  second,  it  is  used  to 
tell  that  Jefferson  is  the  author  of  the  work,  and  not  in 
any  way  to  intimate  that  he  owns  the  book.  The  ab- 
surdity is  apparent — the  same  form  of  word,  that  is  the 
**  possessive  "  form,  is  used  to  denote  a  maker,  and  an 
owner.  How  much  better  it  would  be  to  have  a  care  as 
to  what  meaning  words  are  intended  to  convey  and  say, 
*'  The  Jefferson  Manual,"  and  then  tell  the  learner  what 
would  be  strictly  true,  that  Jefferson  is  used  to  tell  who 
is  the  author  of  the  book.  Classification  in  most  of  the 
other  arts  and  sciences  is  not  so  objectionable  because 
the  things  classed  must  remain  in  their  respective  class- 
es. In  Anatomy,  the  portion  of  the  human  frame  from 
the  wrist  to  the  ends  of  the  fingers,  cannot  be  called  a 
hand  at  one  time  and  at  another  a  foot,  and  at  another 
an  elbow,  and  so  on.  Let  us  examine  one  or  two  more 
examples  of  classification.  ''To''  is  called  a  preposition, 
and  the  reason  given  for  so  calling  it,  is,  that  it  is  placed 
before  the  word  which  it  governs.  But  so  is  every  word 
in  composition  placed  before  another  word  except  the 
last,  and  even  that  is  placed  before  a  mark  called  a 
period.*  Taking  advantage  of  this  classification  some 
grammar  writers  puzzled  to  know  what  to  do  with  **  a" 
in  such  expressions,  as  he  went  a-fishing,  have  called 
**a"  a  preposition,  and  done  like  Tooke's  class-mate 
quoted  the  rule,  ''  a  preposition  is  a  word  placed  before 
a  word,''  etc. 

The  following  extract  from  Professor  Fowle's  Teacher's 
Institutes,  published  in  1866,  contains  an  account  of  an 
amusingly  clear-headed  class,  but  a  badly  puzzled  teach- 
er. All  about  this  part  of  speech,  (prepositions),  which 
contains  but  few  words,  and  these  the  smallest  ones  in 
the  classification: 

**  But  the  most  popular  grammars  used  in  the  TJnited 
States  abound  in  difficulties,  and,  by  perplexing  the 


UNIVERSITY 
I    13    ]      X^aIITor!^ 

teachers  and  disgusting  the  pupils,  they  fail  to  aid  either 
in  the  great  work  of  using  their  mother  tongue  with 
facility  and  effect.  Something  is  fundamentally  wrong. 
All  teachers  and  all  pupils  feel  this,  and  yet  no  reform 
that  has  been  proposed  reaches  the  diiOficulty,  or,  in  any 
considerable  degree,  obviates  it. 

**  The  first  school  that  I  undertook  to  teach  was  to  be 
conducted  on  the  monitorial  plan,  and  the  monitors,  as 
usual,  formed  the  highest  class,  and  were  under  my 
special  instruction,  The  first  time  that  I  endeavored  to 
give  them  a  lesson  in  English  grammar,  I  found  that 
they  all  applied  to  the  dictionary  to  ascertain  what  part 
of  speech  a  word  belonged  to.  As  the  same  word,  in 
different  circumstances,  might  belong  to  different  classes 
of  words,  and  the  pupils  seemed  never  to  have  exercised 
their  ingenuity  in  attempting  to  class  words  by  the  use 
that  was  made  of  them  in  the  sentence,  I  directed  all 
dictionaries  to  be  banished,  and  the  definitions  of  the 
various  parts  of  speech  to  be  thoroughly  learned  before 
the  next  lesson.  When  the  time  arrived,  I  selected  a 
sentence  from  the  reading  book,  and  I  shall  never  forget 
it.  It  was,  "  David  smote  Goliah ."  ''  Well,"  said  I  to 
the  first  pupil,  '*  what  part  of  speech  is  David? '-^  *'  A 
noun,  sir."  *' What  is  a  noun?"  *' A  substantive  or 
noun  is  the  name  of  anything  that  exists,  or  of  which  we 
have  any  notion."  **  Is  David,  in  this  sentence,  the 
name  of  any  thing  that  exists?"  **  No,  sir;  David  died 
long  ago.''  ''  Is  it  the  name  of  any  thing  of  which  you 
have  any  notion?"  '*  Yes,  sir;  I  have  some  notion  of 
him  as  a  very  small  man,  and  a  king.^'  As  the  object 
was  only  to  ascertain  the  part  of  speech,  I  asked  the 
next  pupil  what  part  of  speech  smote  was.  (Smote,  the 
reader  must  understand,  is  by  the  classification,  in  every 
case,  a  verb.)  ''A  preposition,  sir,"  **  A  preposition!" 
said  I,  with  astonishment,  **  pray  what  is  a  preposition  ?" 


f     14    ] 

*'  Prepositions  serve  to  connect  words  with  one  another 
and  to  show  the  relation  between  them/'  ''  Very  well/' 
said  I,  with  all  the  importance  of  a  teacher  who  felt  it 
his  duty  to  expose  the  ignorance  of  his  pupil,  "  what 
words  does  smote  connect  ?  "  *'  David  and  Goliah,  sir, 
for  there  is  nothiDg  else  to  connect  them."  **  Yes," 
said  I,  somewhat  flurried,  "  but  what  relation  does  it 
show  between  them  ?  "  **  Not  a  very  friendly  one,  I 
should  think,  sir,"  said  the  pupil.  I  was  struck  with 
the  truth  of  the  answers,  and  had  the  honesty  to  say, 
**  You  are  right,  miss,  or  the  definition  in  your  book  is 
wrong." 

"  I "  is  called  a  pronoun,  because  as  we  are  told  it 
stands  for  a  noun.  It  is  certainly  used  correctly  very 
often  where  it  does  not  stand  for  a  noun,  or  any  other 
word,^  and  able  writers  have  classed  it  as  a  noun. 
**  The  "  is  classed  as  an  article,  but  Mr.  Webster  says, 
**  Article  being  an  improper  term  for  the  true  significa^ 
tion  I  make  use  of  definitive."  In  the  matter  of  tenses, 
some  make  two,  and  some  make  twenty-two,  and  of 
moods  some  make  many,  others  make  none.  So  I  might 
go  on  and  show  that  classification  makes  a  confusion 
that  completely  confounds  the  learner,  and  which 
makes  us  exclaim  with  the  learned  Goold  Brown, 
*'  There  is  no  science  in  Grammar."  Said  Aristotle, 
*'  To  discover  method  is  all  one  with  teaching  an  art." 
Many  persons  who,  to  speak  technically,  know  nothing 
about  grammar — not  having  studied  it  at  all — having 
happily  avoided  that  drudgery,  speak  and  write  correctly. 
To  reveal  the  method  of  these  people  would  be  to  teach 
a  most  beneficent  art.  Mr.  Webster  in  his  large  Dic- 
tionary, says  that  the  language  of  Franklin  and  Wash- 
ington was  their  hereditary  mother  tongue,  and  that 
they,  unsophisticated  by  modern  grammar,  pi  esented  as 
pure  models  of  genuine  English  as  Addison  or  Swift ; 


[     15     ] 

and  Fowle,  in  his  excellent  work  to  which  I  have  before 
alluded,  says  that  Addison,  Swift,  Steele,  Pope,  John- 
son, Home,  Tooke,  and  Junius,  were  educuted  in  a 
period  when  no  moods  and  only  two  tenses  were  allowed 
in  English  grammar,  and  adds  with  much  force  that  the 
English  lan.i;'uage  did  not  suffer  in  the  hands  of  these 
writers.  A  lady  teacher,  who  stands  at  the  head  of  her 
profession,  in  answer  to  a  letter  asking  her  views  upon 
the  present  system  of  grammar,  says,  ''  The  fact  is,  I 
hate  the  science  of  grammar  as  it  is  arranged  in  books. 
My  own  standard  is  common  sense.  If  I  have  anything 
to  say,  I  manage  to  put  it  in  the  simplest  shape;  know- 
ing that  simplicity  is  always  strength;  and  as  this  is  my 
practice,  I  try  to  teach  it  to  my  pupils.'*  And  the  highly 
gifted  lady,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken  as  author 
and  teacher,  and  who  has  written  two  or  three  delight* 
ful  and  saleable  books,  in  answer  to  a  letter  to  her,  says 
that  in  writing  she  pa^^s  no  attention  whatever  to  any 
rules  of  grammar.  It  may  be  said  that  those  who  have 
studied  grammar  use  the  science  or  art  of  grammar  un- 
conciously  or  imperceptibly,  but  I  beg  leave  to  here  say 
again,  that  it  is  a  well  established  fact,  that  persons 
who  never  studied  grammar  a  day  in  their  lives,  will 
write  as  correctly  as  many  who  studied  it  long  and 
tediously,  and  detect  a  wrong  construction,  or  a  wrong 
arrangement  of  words,  'just  as  readily,  if  not  more 
readily.  (The  author  has  in  mind  a  president  of  one  oi  the 
State  Universities,  who  habitually  made  numerous  gram- 
matical errors  even  in  his  official  papers .)  Then  can  the 
ability  to  use  the  mother  tongue  correctly  be  acquired 
by  a  less  tedious  and  uncertain  way  than  the  one  now  in 
common  use  ?  This  is  a  weighty  question,  but  the 
author  is  clear,  very  clear,  in  his  belief  that  an  affirm- 
ative answer  can  be  given  to  it.  A  following  of  the 
process  used  by  those  who  use  no  grammar  rules  will 


[     16     ] 

solve  the  problem.  Their  process  is  nothing  more  or 
less  than  attention  to  the  sense  and  sound  of  the  words 
used.  This  seem«  an  exceedingly  simple  solution,  but 
all  solutions  are  simple  when  once  understood.  The 
great  problem,  what  keeps  the  ponderous  revolving 
spheres  of  the  universe  in  place,  was  not  solved  by  a 
lengthy  abstruse  scientific  process,  but  by  an  observation 
on  the  very  simple  operation  of  an  apple  falling  from  a 
tree  to  the  ground.  See  the  extensive  and  very  benefi- 
cial practice  of  *'  Water  Cure,"  result  from  a  peasant  in 
stinctively  putting  his  sprained  wrist  under  a  pump 
stream  for  relief.  The  only  tests  used  by  those  who 
discard  grammar  rules,  undoubtedly  are:  do  the  words 
used  make  sense,  and  do  they  sound  well.  The  philoso- 
phy of  this  method  rests  on  the  following  premises: 
First,  that  every  word  is  the  representative  of  a  mental 
process.  Aristotle  says,  words  are  the  images  of  cogit- 
ations. Bacon  in  his  advancement  of  Learning  says, 
**  The  nn-ind  must  have  a  conception  of  what  it  is  seek- 
ing, or  it  would  not  know  it  when  it  found  it.''  Second, 
every  word  has  an  inherent  meaning  and  power.  Locke 
in  his  wonderful  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding, 
says:  '*  Names  made  at  pleasure  neither  alter  the  nature 
of  things  nor  make  us  understand  them,  only  as  they 
are  the  signs  of  and  stand  for  determined  ideas." 
Third,  that  every  word  in  composition  is  directly  con- 
nected with  some  other  word  in  the  sentence  in  which  it 
stands,  and  indirectly  or  remotely  with  every  other 
word  in  the  composition  in  which  it  is  found.  These 
principles  are  discoverable  in  words  themselves,  and 
their  formation  or  combination  into  sentences,  para- 
graphs, chapters,  and  so  on. 

To  concisely  illustrate,  take  the  following  example: 
''  The  boy,  in  his  early  years,  won  esteem  and  favor 
by  his   truthfulness.     In   his   after  years   truthfulness 


[    17    ] 

gained  him  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-men,  and  put 
him  in  high  and  responsible  positions,  and  made  him  a 
wealthy  man.'' 

The  unsophisticated  writer  would  indite  this  plain, 
substantial  and  correctly  written  sentence  without  in 
the  least  considering  any  science  or  art,  and  would  tell 
you  that  he  used  the  word  truthfulness  the  first  time  to 
say  that  the  boy  told  the  truth  on  all  occasions  ;  and  the 
second  time,  to  say  that  the  man  not  only  spoke  the 
truth  at  all  times,  but  was  also  candid,  fair,  honest,  and 
honorable  in  all  his  dealings. 

Here  is  an  example,  taken  from  a  popular  grammar 
of  the  day: 

Two  horses  1 

Two  large  horses  >-  ran. 

Two  large  black  horses  ) 

This  is  disposed  of  (parsed)  as  follows: 

*'  In  the  first  sentence  what  word  describes  horses?'^ 
''Two."  "In  what  respect  does  it  describe  them?" 
*'  As  to  number  ;  it  tells  how  many  horses  ran."  * '  What 
then  is  it  called  ?"  '*  An  adjective."  **  Why?"  *' Be- 
cause it  describes  a  noun ."  Could  anything  more  com- 
pletely confuse  a.  child  grappling  with  the  meaning  of 
words,  their  uses  and  their  effect  upon  one  another? 

Let  those  who  hesitate  as  to  the  correctness  of  their 
language  be  assured  that  when  they  have  spelled  cor- 
rectly and  expressed  their  thoughts  clearly,  all  the 
grammar  rules  in  the  world  will  not  enable  them  to  do 
more.  The  learned  and  great  Daniel  Webster  himself 
laid  it  down  as  a  rule  that  whatever  makes  sense  is 
grammar. 

Especial  attention  and  study  must  be  given  to  this 
introduction,  as  the  principles  and  ideas  contained  in  it 
have  been  kept  constantly  in  view  and  closely  adhered 


[    18    ] 

to  in  the  body  of  the  work.  Abstruseness*  has  been 
carefully  avoided,  and  plainness  of  dictionf  maintained 
throughout  the  book. 


THOUGHTS. 

Thoughts  are  intellectual  operations  of  the  mind.    They 
are  incited  by  sight,    smell,   tasting,    feeling,   and  by 
other    thoughts.     The   printer    being   asked    what  he 
printed,  said  he  printed  thoughts.     When  asked.  How 
can  you  print  thoughts,  which  are  invisible,  intangible 
things,  his   answer  was,  *'  that  thoughts  live  and  work 
and  walk  in  things  that  make  tracks,  and  with  pieces  of 
metal  called  types  he  could  measure  the  track  of  any 
thought  that  ever  made  its  burning  foot  marks  along  the 
pathway   of  ages.     Thus,  thought,  when  measured  by 
types  and  touched  by  printers'  ink,  assumes  form  and 
takes  on  body,  and  is  clothed  in  garments  of  beauty, 
that  make  it  a  living,  working,  intellectual  moral  and 
political  force  in  the  wide  worJd.     Thought  first  works 
through  the  machinery  of  the  human  body,  and  reveals 
itself  in  the  flushed  face,  the  tender  glance,  the  musical 
voice,  the  graceful  movement,  or  the  gentle  pressure  of 
the  hand.     It  next  works  through  the  machinery  of  the 
printing  press,  and  by  it  is  stamped  with  immortality, 
and  in  all  the  newspapers  is  scattered  abroad  as  the 
leaves  of   the   Tree  of  Life  for  the  healing  of   the  na- 
tions."    The  most  prolific  producers  of  thoughts,  how- 
ever, are  thoughts  themselves.     The  clown's  auswer  was 
as  vvise  as  witty,  when  he  scratched  his  head  and  said, 
in  reply  to  a  question  as  to  what  he  thought  about  some 
matter,  **  Well,  let  me  think  what  I  do  think." 

*  Abstruseness— Obscurity  of  meaning ;  the  state  or  quality  of  b6ing  dlflBcult 
to  be  understood. 

t  Diction— Expression  of  ideas  by  words,  style ;  manner  of  expression. 


[19    ] 

LANGUAGE. 

Language  is  the  hand-maideD  of  thought  and  emotion, 
and  embodies  them  in  sounds  and  signs,  and  gives  them 
audible  and  visible  form.  Language,  after  intellect,  is 
man's  crowning  endowment.  It  is  the  instrument  of  all 
his  intellectual  pleasures. 

There  is  a  definition  with  a  much  wider  extent  than 
the  special  one  given  above,  for  the  purpose  of  this 
w^ork.  Webster  gives  this  more  extensive  definition  in 
the  following  words:  **Any  manner  of  expressing 
thoughts.  Thus  we  speak  of  the  language  of  the  eyes, 
a  language  very  expressive  and  intelligible." 

It  is  not  the' intention  to  make  inquiry  as  to  the  origin 
of  language,  or  what  it  is,  further  than  the  definitions 
already  given.  Lxnguages  change,  so  to  speak,  are 
vested  with  mortality —they  live  and  die.  What  is 
proper  at  one  period  may  be  improper  at  another. 
Neither  is  there  any  intention  of  inquiring  as  to  whether 
it  is  proper  to  say  *'skei*'  or  sky,  cow  or  **keow." 
I  shall  take  the  language,  orthography,  ortheopy  and 
everything  else,  just  as  we  find  it  in  the  standard  dic- 
tionaries and  current  usage,  and  inquire  solely  as  to  the 
best  method  of  learning  to  grammaticize  it,  that  is,  to 
use  it  correctly.  Profane  history  traces  the  origin  of 
language  to  Asia.  The  Sacred  Book  tells  us  God  used 
the  first  spoken  words.  They  must  have  had  more  than 
a  hard  practical  vocabulary,  sufficient  only  for  the  nam- 
ing of  animals,  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  else  how  could 
Adam  have  whispered  to  Eve  the  sweet  little  nothings 
necessary  to  woo  and  win  her?  (but  Adam  had  no  rivals). 
An  able  and  very  pleasant  writer  of  the  day  sa^'s: 
Whether  articulate  language  is  the  gift  of  God  or  the 
invention  of  man  is  one  of  the  profound  problems  which 
at  once  challenge  the  thought  and  mock  the  skill  of  the 


[     20     ] 

greatest  and  wisest  minds.  After  investigating  all  its 
elements,  and  as  patiently  and  thoroughly  as  we  can,  we 
are  as  much  divided  in  opinion  respecting  it  as  we  were 
before. 


WORDS. 

Words  are  the  component  parts  of  language  ;  sounds, 
and  their  representatives,  letters  and  figures,*  being 
used  to  form  words.  Spoken  words  are  conventionalf 
utterances  of  the  voice  ;  written  words  are  formed  by 
letters  and  figures,  representing  the  sounds  used  in 
spoken  words.  There  is  but  one  way  to  learn  words,  as 
far  as  spelling  goes,  and  to  come  to  know  their  powers 
and  uses,  and  that  is,  as  you  learn  to  know  the  names 
and  faces  of  your  friends  and  acquaintances,  by  hearing 
their  names  pronounced  often  and  seeing  their  faces 
frequently ;  and  by  constantly  mingling  with  them, 
becoming  familiar  with  their  natures  and  qualities. 
These  preparatory  practices,  these  rambles  in  the  out- 
skirts of  the  literary  conservatory  are  exceedingly  pleas- 
ant and  exhilirating.  Pofessor  Russell,  in  his  excellent 
treatise  on  words,  says,  "  No  exercise  can  be  suggested 
on  which  the  young  mind  seizes  with  such  avidity  as 
that  of  tracing  the  meaning  of  words." 

Spelling  is  word  building.  We  spell  by  sound  and  by 
sight.  We  should  be  j)repared  to  spell  well  in  both 
ways,  but  many  persons  spell  well  in  the  one  way  and 
poorly  in  the  other.  Bad  articulation,  and  consequent 
mutilation  of  words  is  the  great  cause  of  so  much  bad 
spelling,  and  the  reason  why  it  is  generally  so  hard  to 

f*  The  term  figures  includes  all  marks  and  signs  used  in  conveying  thoughts 
and  emotions,  except  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.] 

t  Arisiug  out  of  custom  or  t  acit  agreement ;  as,  a  conventional  use  of 
language. 


[     21     j 

learn  to  spell  corre<3tly  and  easily.  The  plodder  in 
orthography  and  the  bad  speller  pay  no  attention  to 
to  syllabication,*  and  then  complain  bitterly  of  the 
''outrageous  way  of  spelling  words/'  and  clamor  for 
*'  phonetics"§  and  the  like.  Close  attention  to  syllabica- 
tion will  make  the  largest  word  as  easy  to  letter  as  the 
shortest,  because  when  the  long  word  is  divided  into 
syllables  it  becomes  just  like  a  succession  of  words  of 
one  syllable.  Look  well  to  your  ortlioepy\  and  you  will 
find  orthography  easy.  This  is  the  only  suggestion 
that  will  be  given  here  as  to  learning  to  spell ;  and  it  is 
desired  to  give  the  suggestion  the  form  of  a  mandate. 
It  is  not  the  intention,  however,  to  urge  a  distressing, 
exhaustive  drill  on  spelling.  After  you  have  given  it  a 
rational  share  of  attention,  be  not  cast  down  or  timid 
about  putting  pen  to  paper  because  you  may  here  and 
there  misspell  a  word.  Even  Sir  Walter  Scott,  the  great 
author,  misspelled  such  common  words  as  balance, 
society  and  present,  writing  them  in  his  minute  book, 
when  secretary  of  a  literary  society,  where  they  stand 
to-day — bal/ance,  scociety,  preasent. 

Words  are  the  tools  of  the  four  great  builders  and 
sustainers  of  our  social  and  political  fabric — the  pulpit, 
the  forum,  the  press,  the  rostrum.  Let  me  exhort  you 
to  read  newspapers,  and  first  of  all  your  local  paper,  and 
to  go  to  preaching,  and  to  listen  to  orations  whenever 
opportunity  offers,  and  so  greatly  profit  in  acquiring  the 
use  of  words. 


*  Syllabication— The  act  of  foiming  Byllables ;  the  act  or  method  of  dividing 
words  into  syllables. 

§  Phonetics— The   doctrine  or  science  of  sounds,  especially  those  of  the 
human  voice. 

t  Orthoepy— The  art  of  uttering  words  with  propriety  ;  a  correct  pronun- 
ciation of  words. 


[     22     ] 

COMPOSITION. 

A  composition  is  any  finished  piece  of  writing  or  oral 
delivery,  the  word  finished  being  used  in  the  sense  of 
ended.  The  work  of  composition  comprises  the  forma- 
tion of  words,  signs*  and  characters!  into  groups  called 
sentences,  paragraphs,  chapters,  sections,  books. 

To  the  work  of  composition  the  writer  or  speaker 
must  bring  a  good  stock  of  thoughts,  a  good  stock  of 
words,  and  a  clear  understanding  of  the  subject,  whether 
the  production  is  to  be  a  plain  letter,  a  sermon,  a  book, 
an  oration,  or  a  scientific  treatise.  The  first  step  in  com- 
position is  the  construction  of  a  sentence.  This  small- 
est integral  I  pai  t  of  a  composition  is  a  word  or  group  of 
words,  after  which,  in  writing,  is  placed  a  period,  and 
in  speaking  or  reading  a  long  pause  (called  a  full  pause) 
is  made  by  the  speaker  or  reader.  The  punctuation 
marks,  the  period  being  the  most  ancient  and  important 
one,  were  not  invented  or  adopted  for  the  purpose  of 
adding  to  the  sense  or  meaning  of  composition,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  making  rests  for  the  mind  of  the  reader 
or  listener,  at  which  to  gather  and  store  away  the  mean- 
ing of  the  manuscript  he  is  reading,  or  of  the  speaker 
or  reader  to  whom  he  is  listening.  There  s^iould,  there- 
fore, be  a  clearly  denned  conception,  thought  or  idea 
between  all  punctuation  marks.  That  is  the  words 
between  the  marks  ought  to  give  the  mind  of  the  reader 
or  listener  a  distinct  something  to  store  away  and  reflect 
upon.  But  where  are  the  guides  to  the  formation  of 
these  sentences,  paragraphs,  etc.  ?  They  will  be  found 
in  the  suggestions  already  made  in  this  book.     But  a 

*  Signs — ^Visible  maris  or  representatives. 

fCharacters— Marks  or  figures  made  on  paper  or  other  material  used  to  con- 
tain writing. 

t  Integral —Whole;  entire;  making  part  of  a  whole;  necessary  to  make  a 
whole. 


I    23    ] 

word  or  two  more  before  proceeding  to  illustrate  the 
application  of  these  suggestions  or  principles.  A  popu- 
lar grammarian,  in  his  work,  under  the  head  of  compo- 
sition, says:  **  It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  maxim  of 
eternal  truth  that  good  sense  is  the  foundation  of  all 
good  writing.  He  who  understands  a  subject  well  will 
scarcely  write  ill  upon  it."  Professor  Quackenbos,  in 
his  grammar,  says,  ' '  As  to  the  general  arrangement  of 
words  and  clauses,  what  is  the  best  guide  ?  Answer — 
the  ear.''  And  in  a  workeotitled  the  **  Arts  of  Writing, 
Reading  and  Speaking,"  published  in  London  and  repub- 
lished in  this  country,  and  for  which  a  very  large  sale 
is  claimed  by  the  publisher,  it  is  said  :  *' When  I  was 
entering,  as  you  are  now,  upon  the  study  of  my  profes-^ 
sion,  conscious  of  the  necessity  for  acquiring  the  art  of 
speaking,  I  sought  anxiously  in  the  libraries  for  a 
teacher.  I  found  many  books  professing  to  elucidate 
the  mysteries  of  oratory,  and  each  contained  some  hints 
that  were  useful,  and  much  that  was  useless.  But  none 
supplied  the  information  I  most  wanted.  After  iconder- 
ing  over  the  pages  of  my  many  masters  I  did  not  feel 
myself  better  qualified  to  stand  up  and  make  a  speech  ;• 
on  the  contrary,  I  was  perplexed  by  the  multitude  of 
counsellors,  and  the  variety  and  often  the  contradictions 
of  their  advice,  and  I  felt  that  if  it  be  necessary  that  I 
should  keep  before  me  one-twentieth  part  of  the  pro- 
pounded notes,  I  should  have  no  time  to  think  what  to 
say.  I  turned  the  key  of  my  door  and  attempted  to  get 
these  rules  into  practice,  where  failure  would  not  be 
ruin,  and  I  found  that  neither  language,  nor  voice,  nor 
gesture,  as  prescribedr  in  the  books,  was  natural  and 
easy,  but  pedantic,  stiff  and  ungainly.  After  patient 
trial  I  thr3w  away  the  books,  and  sought  to  acquire  the 
art  of  speaking  by  a  different  process — by  writing,  to 


[    24    ] 

teach  facility  and  correctness  of  language,  and  by  read- 
ing aloud,  to  teach  the  art  of  expressing  thoughts." 
^  A  definiton  to  the  word  !'  composition"  is  given  aa 
follows:  **In  literature,  the  act  of  inventing  or  com- 
bining ideas,  clothing  them  with  words,  arranging  them 
in  order,  and,  in  general,  committing  them  to  paper,  or 
otherwise  writing  them.  Hence,  a  written  or  printed 
work  ;  a  writing,  pamphlet  or  book."  The  essence  of 
this  definition  is,  that  comj)osing  is  clothing  ideas  with 
words,  and  arranging  them  in  order.  IncorjDorating 
this  into  our  definition,  given  in  the  first  paragraph, 
under  this  topic,  we  will  proceed  to  illustrate  the  prac- 
tical use  of  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  preceding 
•  pages.  In  doing  so  j^ou  must  first  consider  the  meaning 
(definition)  of  the  word  under  consideration,  and  why  it 
is  used,  that  is,  tell  the  mental  process  it  represents  ; 
next,  with  what  word  or  words  it  is  connected,  and  its 
effect  on  the  word  or  words  with  which  it  is  connected, 
where  it  modifies  it  or  them,  and  whether  such  use  and 
connection  is  common  among  good  speakers  and  writers. 
This  compact  and  plain  formula  can  be  kept  in  the 
mind  with  as  little  effort  as  the  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
and  the  figures  of  the  multiplication  table,  and  any  com- 
position constructed  in  accordance  with  it,  will,  as  the 
writer  may  be  assured,  be  grammatical.  However,  even 
this  formula,  short  and  convenient  as  it  is,  will  seldom 
be  required.  The  sense  and  the  sound  will  take  you 
along  nearly  all  the  time  without  the  bother  of  referring 
to  formulas  or  *' rules."  For  a  beginning  take  the 
following  plain  sentence,  John  struck  James.  Applying 
the  formula,  w^e  would  say:  John  is  the  name  of  a 
person,  and  is  used  to  speak  of  the  person  whose  name 
it  is,  and  it  is  connected  with  the  word  struck.  Struck 
is  the  name  of  an  action,  and  is  used  to  tell  what  was 
done,   and  it  is   connected  with  the  words  John   and 


I     25     ] 

James.     James  is  the  name  of  a  person,  and  the  word  is 
used  to  tell  who  was  struck. 

Now  let  us  amplify  this  sentence  somewhat,  and  then 
dispose  of 'the  additional  words:  John  Mason  struck 
James  Jones  on  the  arm  with  a  large  stick,  and  bruised 
it  severely.  In  this  sentence  ''  John  '^  is  used  to  tell 
which  Mason  is  meant,  and  the  two  words,  John  and 
Mason,  taken  together,  are  used  to  tell  who  did  the 
striking.  **  James"  now  performs  the  same  office  that 
* '  John  ''  does,  and  the  two  words  James  and  Jones  are 
used  to  speak  of  the  person  struck.  '  'On"  is  used  to  give 
notice  that  the  surface  of  the  arm  is  more  particularly 
concerned  with  the  stroke,  and  it  is  connected  with  the 
words  struck  and  arm.  **  The"  cannot  be  defined  ex- 
cept by  circumlocution.  Like  by,  with  et  al,  it  has  no 
synonym.  The  mental  process  it  represents  is  not  very 
clearly  perceived;  but  the  inherent  meaning  and  power 
of  words  is  such  that  we  are  compelled  to  use  it  in  this 
and  like  expressions.  It  is  true  that  we  might  say,  John 
struck  James  on  arm,  and  we  would  be  understood,  and 
a  young  child,  or  a  foreigner  just  learning  to  speak  the 
language  would  very  probably  so  phrase  it.  But  it 
does  not  sound  well,  it  violates  euphony,  and  so  we  are 
compelled  to  use  the  little  word  **  the."  It  will  not  do 
to  say,  as  some  do,  that  such  words  have  no  meaning. 
To  use  words  without  meaning  would  be  gibberish.  It 
will  scarcely  do  to  call  such  words  connecting  links,  for 
they  no  more  perform  that  service  for  the  other  words 
than  the  other  words  perform  that  service  for  them. 
The  literary  chain  cannot  be  made  with  either  left  out. 
**The"  is  here  used  to  direct  attention  to  what  re- 
ceived the  blow;  and  it  is  connected  with  arm.  Arm  is 
the  name  of  a  limb  of  the  body,  and  is  used  to  tell  par- 
ticularly where  the  blow  fell,  and  it  is  connected  with 
struck.     The  remarks  on  **on"  are  applicable  to  **with." 


[     26    ] 

Its  office  here  is  to  direct  the  mind  of  the  reader,  or  his 
listener,  to  the  striker,  and  connect  him  and  the  stick 
in  his  mind  as  they  were  connected  in  reality,  and  also 
in  the  mind  of  the  writer  or  speaker.  The  fact  is,  that 
Mason  used  a  stick  to  inflict  a  blow  on  the  arm  of  Jones. 
Mason,  stick,  arm,  Jones,  and  struck,  are  all  very  closely 
associated  in  the  reciter's  mind,  and  the  word  **  with  '^ 
announces  this  association — this  mental  process.  In- 
deed, the  word  mingles  itself  with  nearly  all  of  the 
words  in  the  sentence,  and  is  indispensable  to  their 
clear  understandiog.  *'  A ''  is  the  first  letter  of  the 
alphabet.  It  is  here  used  as  a  word,  and  in  this  and 
like  cases  it  is  used  more  for  the  sake  of  euphony  than 
for  anything  else.  The  sense  would  I  e  just  as  clear 
without  ''a"  as  with  it,  but  the  language  would  not 
sound  well  at  all.  The  meaning,  if  we  care  to  pay  at- 
tention to  it,  is  one.  **  Large ''  is  a  word  used  in  speak- 
ing of  size.  Its  meaning  here  is  quite  indefinite.  But 
not  so  indefinite  is  **  big  "  in  the  humorous  expression, 
**  As  big  as  a  piece  of  chalk."  **  Large  "  is  here  used 
to  describe  stick,  and  it  is  intended  to  convey  the  in- 
formation by  its  use  that  the  stick  was  of  a  size  sufficient 
to  do  a  great  injury.  This  word  is  connected  onlywith 
stick.  The  word  **  stick''  like  the  words  air,  fire, 
water,  smoke,  etc.,  every  body  uses  constantly,  and 
every  body  knows  its  meaning.  Few,  however,  can 
give  the  definition  to  any  of  these  common  words  oif 
hand.  The  word  here  would  no  doubt  mean  a  piece  of 
wood  of  considerable  length  and  not  much  breadth  or 
thickness,  such  as  the  person  spoken  of  could  wield 
with  facility.  It  is  used  to  tell  what  the  bruise  was 
made  with.  It  is  connected  with  *'John  Mason"  and 
'*  with."  The  sentence  might  have  ended  here,  but  the 
narrator,  or  composer,  wished  to  state  another  circum- 
stance of  the  affair,  and  the  simplest  way  to  do  this  in 


I     27     ] 

the  same  sentence  was  to  use  the  word  "  and,"  which  is 
equivalent  to.  I  add  further,  the  office  of  this  word  is 
to  announce  the  coming  of  another  thought  closely  con- 
nected with  the  one  immediately  preceding,  or  some 
further  information  or  explanation  of  the  striking  and 
bruising.  A  period  might  have  been  placed  after  the 
word  stick,  and  another  sentence  have  been  formed  to 
make  the  statement  about  the  bruise,  thus:  the  blow  in- 
flicted a  severe  bruise.  But  the  use  of  ''and"  made 
the  shortest  way,  and  the  statement  being  clearly  un- 
derstood, it  was  the  best  way.  The  use  of  the  fewest 
words  possible,  if  you  make  your  thoughts  clear  in 
them,  is  the  best  in  every  case.  *'  Bruised"  is  used  to 
tell  what  kind  of  a  hurt  the  arm  received,  namely,  a 
contusion,  that  the  flesh  was  crushed  and  injured  but 
not  cut  or  broken.  The  thought  which  the  word  bruised 
represents  is  clearly  connected  by  the  mind  with  the 
arm,  and  that  only,  and  the  word  is  connected  with  "  it," 
which  stands  for  the  word  arm .  ' '  It "  belongs  to  a  set  of 
words  which  perform  the  office  of  synonyms*  and  prevent 
disagreeable  repetitions  of  the  words,  phrases,  etc.  they 
represent.  The  following  is  a  list  of  these  words  :  1, 
thou,  he,  she,  it,  we,  ye,  you,  they,  my,  mine,  me,  our, 
ours,  us,  thy,  thine,  thee,  your,  yours,  his,  him,  their, 
theirs,  them,  her,  hers,  its,  itself,  yourself,  myself,  our- 
selves, thyself,  ourselves,  thyself,  yourselves,  himself, 
themselves,  herself,  each,  every,  either,  this,  that,  some, 
other,  these,  those,  one,  any,  all,  such,  both,  same, 
another,  none,  who,  which,  whoever,  whosoever,  which- 
ever, whichsovever,  whatever,  whatsoever,  whose,  whom, 
whosoever,  whomsoever,  what.  Some  words  not  in- 
cluded  in   this  list  may  become   at  times   synonyms. 

*  Synonym — A.  word  having  the  same  signification  as  another  word  is  a 
synonym  ;  and  when  a  word  stands  for  a  part  of  a  sentence  or  a  uttobas  of  sen- 
tences it  is  a  synonym. 


/  OF  THK  \ 

rCTNIVERSITY) 


[     28     ] 

Having  used  the  original  word  or  words,  the  proper 
synonym  can  be  substituted  in  other  parts  of  the  com- 
j)Osition.  "Severely''  is  used  to  tell  the  degree  or 
extent  of  the  wound.  By  the  use  of  this  word  we 
convey  the  information  that  it  was  a  bad,  painful 
hurt  of  the  kind.  With  a  little  thought  it  will  be 
apparent  to  beginners  that  this  sentence  might  be 
very  much  amplified.  In  fact,  that  it  might  be  elabo- 
rated into  quite  a  long  article.  To  these  beginners  it  is 
suggested  that  the  persons  spoken  of  might  be  described 
in  a  great  many  particulars.  When  and  where  the  affair 
took  place  and  the  cause  of  it  might  be  given  with 
exactness  ;  a  lengthy  description  of  the  stick  might  be 
given,  which  would  include  its  length,  thickness, 
w^eight,  shape,  kind  of  wood,  etc.;  so  the  wound  might 
be  exactly  described  ;  its  location  on  the  arm,  its  extent, 
color,  etc.  To  exhaust  a  subject,  that  is,  to  say  all  that 
can  be  said  about  it,  is  the  very  best  exercise  for  begin- 
ners. And  it  must  not  be  imagined  that  a  plain,  easily 
understood  subject  is  a  trivial  one.  Like  Milo,  begin 
by  shouldering  the  calf,  shoulder  him  as  he  grows,  and 
so  learn  to  shoulder  the  weighty  ox.  The  following  is 
given  as  a  sample,  in  the  way  of  elaboration,  ibr  begin- 
ners :  I  took  a  stroll  this  morning  before  breakfast  with 
my  cousin  along  the  brook  for  the  purpose  of  conning 
over  yesterday's  lesson  in  botany,  many  parts  of  which 
we  had  found  very  difficult  when  studying  it  the  evening 
before.  We  stopped  at  a  rustic  seat  by  the  ford.  So 
might  we  go  on  adding  word  by  word,  phrase  by  phrase, 
until  a  story  or  a  book  resulted,  as  the  far-stretching 
railroad  is  built,  tie  by  tie,  and  rail  by  rail,  with  here  and 
there  a  side-track  and  station,  and  occasionally  a  pic- 
turesque bridge,  and  a  wondrous  tunnel  delved  through 
the  towering  mountain,  with,  at  intervals,  where  fertile, 
productive  valleys  are  tapped,  branches  running  far  to 


[     29     1 

the  side  to  bring  rich  freight  to  the  main  line.  In  com- 
position, these  departures  from  the  main  thread  of  the 
subject  are  called  episodes,  and  furnish  the  opportunity 
of  most  delightfully  enriching  narrative  and  descriptive 
composition  ;  in  fact  all  sorts  of  composition  except  the 
strictly  didactic.  Many  authors  now  attempt  to  teach 
the  art  of  composition  with  the  aid  of  diagrams.  These 
labyrinths  are  more  bewildering  than  the  maze  of 
rules,  notes,  exceptions,  explanations,  etc.,  which  fill  tha 
parts  of  their  books  not  occupied  by  the  diagrams. 

The  only  reasonable  diagram  would  be  a  succession 
of  short  and  long  horizontal  marks  or  dashes,  repre-- 
senting  short  and  long  words.  For  this  is  the  whole  of 
composition — a  succession  of  words  differing  in  lengthy 
that  is  if  the  composition  is  of  any  considerable  length 
itself.  Caesar's  famous  laconism*  :  '*  I  came,  I  saw, 
I  conquered,"  contained  only  one  long  word.  And  the 
still  more  laconic  editorial  of  a  country  editor,  whose 
paper  demised,  contained  not  even  one  long  word.  The 
sum  total  of  his  valedictory  in  his  last  paper  was  '^  IVe 
quit."  The  great  merit  of  the  composition,  and  the  merit 
lay  in  its  depth  of  humor,  caused  it  to  be  copied  by  the 
press  far  and  wide.  And  each  word  in  composition  per- 
forms its  part,  which  cannot  be  dispensed  with,  in  con- 
veying the  thoughts  of  the  writer  or  speaker.  There  is, 
no  central  word  in  each  sentence  in  regard  to- 
sense  or  meaning,  around  which  the  others  are 
built  and  which,  like  the  keystone  of  an  arch 
holds  them  in  place,  and  without  which  the 
structure  could  not  be  maint  lined.  There  is,  however,, 
one  word  in  every  composition  that  has  this  importance,, 
and  that  is  the  word  denoting  the  subject,  the  main 
thought — the  theme  word — and  this  is  placed  at  the 

♦Laconism— A  brief  sententious  phrase  or  expression. 


[     30     1 

head  of  the  composition,  and  every  word  must  have 
reference  to  it,  either  directly  or  remotely. 

After  the  theme  word  there  is  no  jvord  to  which  this 
importance  attaches,  either  with  reference  to  a  sentence 
or  to  any  part  of  the  whole  of  the  composition  if  it  con- 
sists of  more  than  one  sentence.     The  theme  word  is 
generally  placed  at  the  top  of  the  composition,   and  is 
then  called  the  "  head."'     Sometimes  it  is  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  line,  and  is  then  called  a  "  side 
head.''     For  example,  in  the  *' anomalous '"  sentence, 
"  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear,''   **  that  "  is 
absolutely  indispensable,  and  yet  it  is  classed  by  the 
grammarians  as  a  very  insignificant  word.     The  sentence 
is  a  group  of  little  words,  but  no  one  of  them  can  be 
left  out  without  spoiling   the  sense  of  the  expression. 
Coming  back  to  practice  upon  examples,  take  the  follow- 
ing: Example  2  :  *'  A  drunken  man  came  staggering  into 
the  room.     He  would  have  fallen  full  length  upon  the 
floor   had   he   not  been  caught  by   a  person  who  was 
sitting  near.     The  inebriated  man  recognized  the  favor, 
and  with  genuine  politeness,  made  awkward,  however,  by 
his  maudlin  condition,  expressed  thanks  for  it."     The 
words  of  this  sentence  are  all  easily  disposed  of  under 
the    formula    and    directions    already    given,    without 
farther  instructions  here  except  the  words  ^'  would  have 
fallen"   and    '^had    not    been    caught."       **  Would" 
we  say,  following  the  dictionary,  is  used  to  enable  us  to 
make  a  conditional  declaration,  l3ut  there  is  clearly  an 
element  of  willingness  inherent  in  the  word,  and  this 
element  is  nearly  always,  if  not  always,  discoverable  in 
the  word.     The  man,  in  this  case,  was  made  willing  to 
fall   by   his   stupor,    and  it   is  this  idea  '*  would"   is 
selected   to   express.       *'  Have  "    is  used   to   assist  in 
making  the  declaration.     The  idea  of  to  take  or  posess 
is  a^^parent  in  "  have.*'     The  meaning  was  that  the  man 


t'  31     ] 

was  willing  to  take  or  have  a  fall.  **  Fallen  **  is  used, 
and  not  fell,  because  correct  authority  has  ordained  that 
fallen  must  he  used  whenever  have  is  used.  **Had"is 
also  used  to  make  a  conditional  declaration.  It  is  con- 
nected with  *'  been/'  The  imperative  authority  named 
above  compels  us  to  use  *'  been  ''  whenever  we  use  has, 
have  or  had.  '*  Caught"  is  used  to  tell  what  act  was 
performed  by  the  j)erson.  **Not''is  classed  by  the 
grammarian  as  a  negative  adverb.  In  cases  like  this  it 
is  far  from  having  a  negative  effect.  On  the  contrary,  it 
makes  the  declaration  a  decidedly  affirmative  one.  The 
sense  is  that  the  man  was  caught,  and  this  the  little 
word  **not"  makes  the  words  affirm. 

Example  3. — *'  She  is  worth  him  and  all  of  his  con- 
nections.'' This  is  one  of  the  most  refractory  of  the 
outlaws  quoted  in  the  introduction.  For '' she '^  see 
example  1.  **  Is  '  is  used  to  speak  of  the  person  (lady) 
as  existing.  We  say  I  am,  you  are,  he,  she  or  it  is,  etc., 
the  words  am,  are,  and  is,  being  used  to  state  that  the 
persons  or  things  with  which  the  words  are  connected 
exist  or  be.  For  instance:  ''The  town  is  six  miles 
beyond."  Here  the  word  *'is"  is  used  to  make  the 
declaration  that  what  we  call  a  town  stands  six  miles 
away.  Again  :  "  The  boy  is  dead."  It  would  be  a 
wrong  use  of  words  to  say  ''  the  boy  exists  dead.''' 
*'  Is,"  therefore,  in  such  cases  cannot  mean  existence. 
It  would  be  literally  correct  to  say  '*  the  boy  is  no 
more."  The  statement  would  then  be  that  the  boy  had 
ceased  to  exist,  and  the  word  exists  could  be  put  in  the 
sentence  instead  of  ''is."  It  will  comply  with  our  for- 
mula to  say  that  be,  being,  been,  am,  et  al,  are  used  in 
making  declarations  in  regard  to  existence  or  being. 
For  instance,  we  might  say,  "the  town  being  six  miles 
distant,  I  told  the  man  so,"  which  phraseology  would 
leave  "  is  "  out.     "  Is,"  then,  in  the  present  example  is 


[     32    ] 

used  to  make  the  declaration  that  the  young  lady  exists. 
*'  Worth  "  is  used  to  speak  of  the  value  or  estimation  in 
which  the  young  lady  is  held,  and  it  is  connected  with 
**  she."  For  '*  him  ''  see  example  1.  The  word  here 
must  stand  for  some  one  mentioned  before,  in  the  com- 
position of  which  this  sentence  formed  a  part.  ''  All  '* 
is  used  to  speak  of  number  and  means  everyone.  It  is 
connected  with  connections.  For '' his '' see  example 
1.  It  is  used  to  tell  what  connections  are  meant, 
namely:  the  connections  of  **him.''  '*  Connections'' 
means  here  relations,  and  in  this  case  would  include 
those  by  marriage  as  well  as  by  blood. 
Example  4. — 

"They  of  whom  I  sprang, 
And  I.  had  there  our  birthplace, 

Where  the  last 
Partition  wall  of  our  city  first  is  reached. 
By  him  that  runs  her  annual  game." 

This  example  is  from  Dante's  Vision.  The  words,  are 
indeed  well  chosen  by  the  author.  Elegance  and  fit- 
ness dwells  in  every  syllable.  The  most  of  them  are 
easily  disposed  of.  *'They"  is  used  to  speak  of  the 
writer's  ancestors,  *'of"is  used  in  the  sense  of  from, 
**  whom  "  is  used  for  the  same  purpose  that  **  they  "  is, 
**I"  is  used  to  enable  the  writer  to  refer  to  himself. 
''Sprang"  is  used  in  the  sense  of  came;  the  writer 
means  to  say  they  of  whom  I  derive  my  lineage.  '  *  And  " 
is  used  to  continue  the  sentence,  the  same  is  add 
further.  *'  I  '-^  is  used  again  for  the  reason  given  above. 
**Had"  is  used  to  make  a  positive  declaration 
**  There  "  refers  to  place.  **  Our  "  is  used  to  speak  of 
both  the  writer  and  his  ancestors.  ''  Birth-place  "  is  a 
compound  word,  and  it  is  used  to  tell  that  he,  Dante, 
ane  his  ancestors  were  born  in  the  locality  designated 
by  *'  there  "  and  '*  where."     *'  Where  "  refers  to  place. 


f     33     1 

For  **  the  "  see  example  1.  **  Last"  is  used  to  tell  at 
which  wall  the  locality  was.  ''Partition^'  tells  what  kind 
of  a  wall  it  was.  *'  Wall  '^  is  the  name  of  a  well-known 
structure,  and  it  is  used  to  assist  in  designating  the 
locality.  ''  Of  "  is  here  used  in  the  sense  of  belonging 
to.  '*  Our  "  is  here  used  to  tell  what  city  is  meant,  that 
is  the  city  in  which  he,  Dante,  had  his  home.  '*  First '' 
is  used  to  fix  exactly  the  part  of  the  wall  at  which  the 
birth-place  was.  For  *^is''  see  example  3  ;  it  is  con- 
nected with  wall.  "  Reached  "  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
arrived  at,  and  is  connected  with  wall.  The  sense  of 
'  *  by  "  is  obscure.  It  is,  however,  used  in  the  sense  of 
being,  thus  :  **  Where  he  is  first  at  the  wall  who  runs, 
etc.''  '*  Him"  is  used  to  speak  of  the  runner,  and  so 
is  *'  that."  ''  Runs  "  is  used  in  the  sense  of  participa- 
tion, and  it  refers  to  all  who  took  part  in  the  racing, 
which  was  a  part  of  the  annual  amusements  of  the  city. 
'*  Her  "  is  used  to  speak  of  the  city.  "  Annual ''  is  used 
to  tell  what  game.  The  word  ''  game  "  is  used  to  speak 
of  the  race,  that  being  included  in  the  annual  games. 
For  the  sake  of  brevity,  the  connections  of  the  words  in 
this  example,  anci  much  minutia  that  might  have  been 
given,  have  been  omitted.  These  can  readily  be  supplied 
by  the  learner  if  he  or  she  wishes  to  be  at  that  pains." 

Example  5. — ''I  tell  thee  what,  corporal,  I  could 
tear  her."  This  sentence  is  from  Dean  Swift's  "■  Life  of 
Tristram  Shandy."  *'What"  is  equivalent  to  ''tear 
her."  "Could"  is  used  to  tell  the  disposition  of  the 
speaker.  He  means  to  say,  I  have  the  will  to  ''tear 
her."  The  other  words  can  be  readily  disposed  of  by 
the  learner. 

Example  6. — "1  am  going  to  walk."  "Going"  is 
here  used  to  express  an  intention.  For  "to"  the 
learner  is  respectfully  referred  to  an  unabridged  dic- 
tionary.    "  Walk"  is  used  to  name  the  act  the  speaker 


I     34    ] 

intends  to  perform.  The  literal  meaning  of  the  expres- 
sion is  to  do  a  walk.  That  is,  that  the  speaker  intends 
to  do  the  act  of  walking. 

Example  7. — ''  A  few  changes  will  be  maJe.^'  This 
example  is  given  to  show  the  power  of  "  a..'^  Remove 
it  from  the  sentence  and  note  the  altered  meaning. 

Example  8. — ''  At  all."  These  words  are  used  to  give 
force  to  the  expression.  We  say, '' none  at  all,"  not- 
withstanding none  means  not  any.  Webster  classes 
such  words  as  intensives,  and  gives  the  following  ex- 
ample :  *'The  tree  fell,  nest,  eagles  and  all."  For  a 
sort  of  double  intensive  we  say  :  ''  I'm  not  going  at  all, 
at  all.''  *'  LoDg  ago  "  means  an  unlimited  past  period, 
but  we  say  '*long,  long  ago"  to  intensify  the  expression. 
The  great  benefit  derived  from  thoroughly  understand- 
ing the  meaning  and  force  of  the  words  used  is  shown 
by  the  words  in  the  following  sentences,  to  which  atten- 
tion is  directed  by  putting  them  in  italics  :  ''He  was 
here  after  you  this  morning."  **  He  was  here  this 
morning  after  you."  In  this  example,  ''after"  may 
mean  that  the  one  person  was  in  search  of  the  other  ; 
or  the  word  may  mean  that  he  arrived  at  a  later  period 
than  the  other.  "  The  duck  swam  over  the  water." 
*'  The  bird  flew  over  the  water."  The  difference  in  the 
meaning  of  "  over"  in  these  two  sentences  is  very  great. 
In  the  one,  the  locality  pointed  out  by  it  is  in  the  water, 
and  in  the  other,  high  above  the  water.  Again  :  "  He 
staid  over  night."  "  He  laid  one  board  over  another.'-' 
Note  the  totally  different  meaning  of  the  very  same 
words  in  the  following  sentences,  effected  by  the  slight- 
est possible  alteration  in  the  arrangement  :  "I  have  an 
apple."  "Have  I  an  apple?"  In  the  following  sen- 
tences "  how"  stands  in  the  same  position  in  each,  but 
its  meaning  varies  very  perceptibly.  "  How  many  men 
were  there  ?  "     "  How  often  did  you  go  ?  "     *'  How  old 


[    35    ] 

are  you?"  "How  is  your  brother  ?  *'  '*  How  are  the 
mighty  fallen  ?  "  We  say  Idaho  Territory,  and  we  say 
the  United  States  is  a  vast  territory.  We  say  the  sur- 
veyor went  to  the  field,  and  we  say  the  hired  man  went 
to  the  field,  attaching  a  very  different  meaning  to  the 
word  field  in  the  different  sentences.  To  dispose  of, 
*'  parse,"  the  same  words  with  different  meanings  in  the 
same,  or  nearly  the  same  way  tends  to  make  the  pupil's 
recitations  valueless. 

In  concluding  this  article  on  composition  it  would  be 
an  easy  matter  to  insert  various  examples  and  then  say 
there,  do  it  like  that.  But  the  learner  would  exclaim 
at  once  *'  I  can't.  Tell  me  how."  Ah  !  There's  the  rub. 
Such  skill  must  come  to  you  as  skill  comes  to  the  ap- 
prentice boy,  learning  to  use  his  ax,  saw,  chisel  and 
plane  ;  as  it  comes  to  the  architect,  who  by  practice  at 
first  on  sheds,  barns,  cottages,  etc.,  putting  them  to- 
gether piece  by  piece,  board  by  board,  in  the  beginning 
awkwardly  and  tediously,  finally  acquires  the  skill  to 
plan  and  construct  the  magnificent  capitol  and  palace. 
The  ability,  the  ''nack"  to  compose  must  come  from 
PRACTICE.  Said  Dickens  :  "  Never  to  put  my  hand 
to  anything  to  which  I  could  not  throw  my  whole  self, 
and  never  to  effect  depreciation  of  my  work,  whatever 
it  was,  I  find  now  to  have  been  my  golden  rules."  Be 
assiduous .  Be  constant  in  your  application,  but  never 
let  your  practice  become  drudgery.  Let  it  always  be 
a  pleasant  occupation.  Throw  books,  paper  and  all 
aside  whenever  your  practice  becomes  irksome.  Better 
be  without  knowledge  than  to  wear  out  your  life  in 
getting  it.  Why  freight  the  ship  with  rich  wares  to 
founder  in  the  first  sea  she  is  destined  to  encourter. 
The  physical  ability  to  use  a  little  knowledge  well  is 
much  more  precious  than  little  physical  ability  to  use  a 
great  deal  of  knowledge. 


[    36    ] 

It  is  a  common  habit  for  letter-writersS,  authors, 
orators  and  savans  to  worr}^  their  brains  to  exhaustion, 
and  often  to  even  badlj  misuse  the  capUiary  coating  to 
the  crowning-piece  of  man's  mechanism  in  their  efforts 
to  find  a  word  to  suit  them.  The  fiist  thing  to  do  in 
such  cases  is  to  avoid  worrying,  and  the  next  is  to  take 
the  word  that  first  occurs  to  you,  and  go  to  your  dic- 
tionary and  hunt  synonyms.  If  the  synonym  remedy 
fails,  then,  still  without  worrying,  change  the  phrase- 
olog-y  of  the  portion  of  your  composition  in  which  the 
trouble  occurs,  and  sometimes  it  may  be  well  to  even 
modify  the  ideas  sought  to  be  expressed. 


PUNCTUATION. 

Punctuation  directs  the  placing  of  prescribed  marks  or 
dots  in  different  parts  of  manuscript.  The  places  for 
these  marks  and  dots  are  indicated  by  pauses  and  modu- 
lations of  the  voice  in  reading  and  speaking.  These 
marks  and  dots,  modulations  and  pauses,  assist  the 
reader  or  listener  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  the 
writer  or  speaker.  They  are  in  fact  a  part  of  the  com- 
position, and  the  same  guides.  Sense  and  sound  must 
be  followed  in  using  them. 

In  ancient  times  there  were  no  marks  used.  *'  There  • 
be,''  says  the  father  of  logic,  *'  two  sorts  of  styles.  The 
one  is  continued,  or  to  be  comprehended  at  once;  the 
other  divided,  or  distinguished  by  periods.  The  first 
sort  was  in  use  with  ancient  writers;  but  is  now  out  of 
date.  An  example  of  this  style  is  in  the  history  of 
Herodotus;  wherein  there  is  no  period  till  the  end  of 
the  whole  history." 


[     37     ] 

The  following  are  called  punctuation  marks;  the 
other  marks  are  characters  used  in  writing,  having  no 
general  term  to  designate  them:  comma,  semicolon; 
colon:  period.  Note  of  interogation  or  question  pz_ark? 
mark  of  exclamation!  dash — 

Other  charactei's  used  in  writing:  Parenthesis  (), 
brackets  [  J,  apostrophe ',  quotation  marks  '*  ",  hyphen  -, 
section  §,  paragraph  ^,  brace  .-^ — .,  star  *,  caret  ^  ,  in- 
dex or  hand  S^T,  diaeresis  •• ,  acute  accent^,  the  grave 
accent/,  the  long  sound"",  the  short  sound  ^  ,  dagger  f , 
double  J,  parallel  || ;  also  small  letters  and  figures  re- 
ferring to  marginal  notes  and  explanations. 

In  manuscript,  for  the  printer,  a  score,  or  horizontal 
line  placed  under  a  word,  denotes  that  the  word  is  to  be 
put  in  italic  letters.  Two  scores  means  that  the  word 
is  to  be  in  small  capitals,  and  three,  that  it  is  to  be  in 
capitals. 

No  exact  time  can  be  given  for  the  length  of  the  pause 
to  be  made  at  each  of  the  punctuation  marks.  However, 
generally  the  semicolon  requires  double  the*  pause 
made  at  a  comma,  a  colon  double  that  made  at  a  semi- 
colon, and  a  period  double  that  made  at  a  colon.  The 
pause  to  be  made  at  the  question  mark,  exclamation 
point,  and  dash  must  be  determined  entirely  by  the 
judgment  of  the  reader  or  speaker.  The  question  mark 
requiring  some  time,  three  times  the  length  of  pause 
that  it  does  at  others;  and  so  of  the  exclamation  and 
dash.  But  the  difficulty  is  to  decide  where  to  make  a 
mark  and  which  one  to  make.  The  fulness  and  clear- 
ness with  which  an  idea  or  thought  has  been  expressed 
must  determine  this  question.  There  are  only  two 
kinds  of  sentences,  short  and  long.  The  short  being 
always  much  more  easily  written  and  much  better  un- 
derstood  and  liked  by   the  reader,  or  listener.     The 


[    38    1 

following  extract  is  from  the  work  on  the  Art  of  "Writing, 
etc.,  already  mentioned: 

School-books  and  other  treatises  on  elocution,  ^ive 
yon  explicit  directions  for  the  measurement  of  these 
various  signals,  telling  you  that  you  should  count  one 
for  a  comma,  two  for  a  semicolon,  and  so  forth.  Such 
rules  are  worthless;  they  fail  utterly  in  practice. 

This  very  pleasantly  written  and  excellent  article  on 
this  subject   is  from  a  literary  joarnal  of  the  day. 

The  best  general  rule  for  punctuation  is  this :  Bead 
your  article  or  letter  aloud,  making  your  inflections  con- 
form as  accurately  as  possible  to  the  sense  you  wish  to 
convey;  and  wherever  you  make  a  pause  mark  a  corres- 
ponding one  in  the  manuscript.  Do  not  mark  one 
where  you  do  not  make  one  in  reading.  Nearly  all 
manuscript^  and  a  good  deal  of  printed  matter,  is  punc- 
tuated too  much.  If  you  can  use  periods  and  commas 
correctly — which  easy  as  it  seems,  is  rarely  done — you 
will  get  along  very  well  with  any  simple  composition. 
Semicolons  and  dashes  belong  rather  to  the  elegancies 
of  punctuation.  Three-fourths  of  all  the  semicolons 
that  ought  to  be  used  are  required  before  clauses  begin- 
ning with  **for"  or  *'  but,''  assigning  a  reason  for,  or 
noting  an  exception  to  the  statement  that  immediately 
precedes. 

Dashes,  which  many  writers  scatter  about  in  such 
reckless  j)rofusion  should  be  used  very  sparingly.  They 
generally  denote  that  the  sense  which  is  interrupted  by 
some  necessary  intervening  explanation  is  resumed 
farther  along.  When  several  enumerated  particulars, 
taken  together,  are  in  apposition  with  a  single  word  or 
clause  that  precedes  or  follows,  they  should  be  sejoarated 
from  it  with  a  dash.  These  two  cases  cover  almost 
entirely  the  proper  use  of  that  punctuation  mark  with 
whose  wholesale  abuse  manuscripts  are   so  generally 


[    39    ] 

disfigured.  When  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  the  necessity 
of  a  point,  by  all  mekns  omit  it.  Other  things  being 
equal,  that  is  best  English  which  requires  least  punc- 
tuation. 

Many  curious  anecdotes  of  punctuation,  or  the  want 
of  it,  are  current  among  printers  and  proof  readers.  An 
old  compositor  tells  this  one :  '  *  We  remember  a 
number  of  years  ago,  when  we  were  at  work  in  a  book 
office  near  Boston,  the  copy  was  received  for  a  scientific 
work.  The  copy  was  manuscript,  with  every  capital 
letter  in  its  proper  place,  every  word  distinct,  and  punc- 
tuated. It  was  plain  as  reprint,  and  called  by  com- 
positors the  best  manuscript  copy  they  had  seen.  This 
copy  was  given  out  to  the  compositors,  a  few  pages  at  a 
time,  who  set  it  up  and  punctuated  it  as  they  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  doing,  each  as  he  thought  the  sense  re- 
quired. The  proof  reader  read  the  proofs,  marked  a 
few  changes  in  the  punctuation,  as  he  did  in  most  of  the 
proofs,  and  the  matter  was  corrected. — Another  proof 
was  taken  and  when  thirty  or  forty  pages  were  ready 
they  were  sent  to  the  author  for  his  inspection.  In  a 
few  days  the  proofs  came  back  with  the  punctuation 
marked  freely.  It  was  corrected,  of  course;  and  the 
compositors  then  got  orders  to  follow  copy  in  punctu- 
ation. They  did  so,  and  another  lot  was  forwarded  to 
the  author,  punctuated  exactly  according  to  the  copy. 
In  due  time  these  proofs  came  back,  and  with  the  punc- 
tuation marked  worse  than  before,  if  that  were  possible. 
This  irritated  the  proof  reader  somewhat,  and  he  sent 
the  scientific  author  a  not  very  polite  note,  saying:  *  If 
I  can't  punctuate  this  work  to  suit  you,  and  you  can't 
punctuate  it  to  suit  yourself,  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?' 
In  reply,  the  author  said  he  wasn't  aware  he  had  been 
eorrectiug  the  office  punctuation,  but  if  the  proof  reader 
would  see  to  the  punctuation  he  would  be  much  obliged, 


[    40     ] 

as  it  was  someiliing  he  knew  nothing  about.  After  that 
there  was  no  more  trouble  about  punctuation  on  that 
work." 

The  memoirs  of  "  Lord  Timothy  Dexter  "  were  printed 
with  all  the  punctuation  marks  that  should  have  been 
used  throughout  the  book  presented  in  a  lump  on  the 
last  page,  the  reader  being  told  to  sprinkle  them  to  suit 
himself. 

As  has  already  been  said,  these  marks  and  pauses  are 
for  the  benefit  of  the  reader  or  listener,  and  there- 
fore, each  one  used  should  mark  off  something  for  the 
listener  or  reader  to  direct  his  or  her  attention  to 
particularly,  and  the  more  matter  there  is  for  thought 
between  your  last  mark  and  the  place  you  are  about  to  make 
one,  (he  greater  the  pause  should  the  mark  indicate  which 
you  are  about  to  make.  Locke's  Essay  on  the  Human 
Understanding,  and  the  essays  of  Thomas  Carlyle, 
besides  furnishing  the  very  best  matter  for  reading  and 
study,  are  most  excellent  models  for  punctuation  and 
style  also. 


CAPITAL   LETTERS. 

Authors  differ  but  little  in  their  rules  for  the  use  of 
capital  letters.  The  same  directions  substantially  in 
regard  to  them  being  given  in  all  text  books.  Begin  with 
a  capital  letter  as  follows:  The  first  word  of  every  book, 
chapter,  letter,  note,  or  any  other  piece  of  writing;  the 
first  word  of  every  sentence.  Names  of  persons,  places, 
ships,  etc.;  as,  George  Washington,  General  Grant, 
Judge  Story,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  America.  The  Ohio. 
Sheldon  &  Co.,  Broadway,  New  York.  The  first  word 
in  every  line  of  poetry.     The  appellations  of  the  Deity; 


[    41     ] 

as.  God,  Most  High,  the  Ahnighty,  the  Supreme  Being, 
etc.  Words  derived  from  the  names  of  countries  and 
towns:  as,  German,  Koman,  English,  Spanish,  Philadel- 
phia, etc.  The  seasons  of  the  year.  Spring,  etc.  Every 
important  word  in  the  title  of  a  book. 

I,  when  it  is  used  to  sj)eak  of  a  person,  must  always 
be  a  capital  letter;  so  must  O,  when  it  is  used  to  repre- 
sent an  exclamation. 

When  a  quotation  would  make  sense  standing  alone, 
the  first  word  may  begin  with  a  ca^iital. 

A  word  to  which  it  is  desired  to  draw  particular  atten- 
tion, may  begin  with  a  capital. 


VOCABULARY. 

**  They  have  been  at  a  feast  of  words  and  stolen  only  the  scraps." 

Shakespear, 

The  cause  of  embarrassment  in  expressing  thought  is 
generally  the  stinted  supply  of  words  at  command  of 
the  speaker  or  writer,  and  the  remedy  is  obviously  an 
extended  vocabulary,  a  greater  stock  of  words.  The 
only  way  to  get  a  stock  of  words  is  to  study  words. 
There  is  no  good  reason  why  farmers,  mechanics,  and  all 
whose  occupations  involve  manual  labor,  and  their 
families,  should  not  use  as  good  and  elegant  language, 
in  every  day  life,  and  use  it  as  fluently  too,  as  lawyers, 
doctors,  and  all  professional  people,  and  their  families. 
Words  are  almosc  as  free  as  air  and  water,  and  they  can 
be  learned  without  a  master.  You  need  no  instructor 
except  a  dictionary.  Make  y out  self  the  owner  of  an 
*'  unabridged  "  if  you  possibly  can.  If  this  is  not  within 
your  reach,  then  get  the  next  largest.      Your  funds  will 


I    42    ] 

purchase.  A  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature 
once  said  in  that  body ,  that  a  person  could  obtain  an 
education  from  an  unabridged  dictionary.  This  was 
perhaps  saying  a  little  too  much.  It  is  true,  all  the 
words  of  the  language  are  in  it,  but  they  are  not  arrang- 
ed with  reference  to  subjects.  A  friend  of  a  very 
eloquent  clergyman  said  to  him  after  the  delivery  of  one 
of  his  very  best  discourses:  *'  That  was  a  good  sermon, 
indeed,  but  I  have  a  book  with  every  word  of  it  in,"  and 
the  next  day  presented  him  with  a  very  finely  bound 
copy  of  an  unabridged  dictionary.  The  next  most 
valuable  aid  is  a  comprehensive  encyclopaedia.  Some 
of  the.  word  books  now  in  print  will  also  be  found 
very  serviceable.  It  is  not  at  all  intended  to  advise  the 
cultivation  and  practice  of  euphocism,*  that  is  a  high- 
flown,  ''highfalutin''  style  of  talking  and  writing.  Any- 
thing like  that  must  be  most  carefully  avo'ded.  Plain  ex- 
act lanj^uage  is  the  most  beautiful  clothing  for  our 
thoughts.  The  most  simple  is  the  most  charming  attire 
for  the  person .  It  is  not  coarse  or  inelegant  in  its  texture, 
or  in  its  fashion,  but  charms  by  its  richness  and  style. 
There  is  in  it  an  entire  absence  of  anything  that  dazzles 
or  amazes,  or  makes  the  least  approach  to  gaudiness. 
So  should  the  drapery  of  our  thoughts  be.  Grave 
eloquence,  pedantry,  high-sounding,  and  far-fetched 
words,  makes  a  guady  distasteful  hard  to  understand 
style.  But  above  all  things,  avoid  an  incongruous  ab- 
surd wrong  use  of  words.  The  author  knew  a  young 
lady,  an  applicant  for  a  school-teacher's  certificate,  who 
when  being  examined  by  the  board  of  education,  gave 
as  a  definition  for  the  word  chimerical, f  '*  A  word. used 
in  chemistry'-': 

*  EnphoniBm — An  affection  of  excessive  elegance  and  refinement  of  language; 
high-flown  diction. 
t  Merely  imaginary,  fanciful,  fantastic. 


[    43    ] 

The  following  story  illustrative  of  this  kind  of  error, 
is  told  of  the  famous  Congressman,  Thomas  Corwin. 
He  was  on  his  way  home  from  the  capital,  by  stage. 
At  one  of  the  *'  taverns''  the  landlord  was  very  anxious 
that  the  celebrated  Congressman  should  have  a  high 
ox^inion  of  his  *'  smartness."  At  table,  assuming,  as  he 
suj)posed  a  very  learned  air,  he  asked  Mi*.  Corwin  if  he 
would  have  the  condiments,*  meaning  sugar/and  cream 
in  his  coffee.  Mr.  C.  replied,  ''  Thank  you,  I  will  have 
pepper  and  salt,  but  no  mustard." 

The  following  is  an  amusing  instance  of  this  kind  of 
blunder  committed  by  a  native  Punjaub  school  teacher. 
*'Hon.  Sir,  I  am  most  anxious  to  hear  that  you  are 
sick,  I  pray  God  to  get  you  soon  at  R.  in  a  state  of 
triumph.  The  climate  of  R.  is  ^rood  and  proves  un- 
healthy. No  Deputy  Commissioner  ever  complains  for 
want  of  climate.  If  you  also  come  here,  I  think  it  will 
also  agree  with  your  state.  An  information  expectant, 
or  reversionary  respecting  your  recovery  state  is  ex- 
pected, and  I  shall  be  thankful  to  you.'' 

The  author  once  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  a 
sermon  preached  before  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  a 
number  of  the  English  nobility.  It  was  an  eloquent 
and  finished  literary  production,  and  withal  a  fervid  pious 
exhortation.  Dignified,  yet  without  a  single  stilted  J 
feature  about  it.  The  ideas  were  exalted,  the  language 
grand,  and  at  times  sublime  as  befitted  the  speaker's 
great  theme.  It  was  rich  for  the  very  reason  that  it  was 
plain  and  easily  understood.  Indeed,  there  is  no  more 
excellent  example  of  fitness  in  the  choice  of  words  than 
the  Bible  itselt.     One  has  beautifully  said  of  it: 

If  we  need  higher  illustration,  not  only  of  the  power 
of  natural  objects  to  adorn  language  and  gratify  taste, 

*  CofldimeDt— Seasoning  ;  sauce,  that  "which  Is  used  to  give  relish  to  meats. 
%  Stilted,  UDreasonably  elevated. 


■       [    U    ] 

but  proof  that  here  we  find  the  highest  conceivable 
beauty,  we  appeal  at  once  to  the  Bible.  Those  most 
opposed  to  its  teachings  have  acknowledged  the  beauty 
of  its  language,  and  this  is  due,  mainly,  to  the  exquisite 
use  of  natural  objects  for  illustrations.  It  does,  indeed, 
draw  from  every  field.  But  when  emotional  nature  was 
appealed  to,  the  reference  was  at  once  to  natural  objects, 
and,  throughout  all  its  books,  the  stars,  the  flowers,  the 
gems,  are  prominent  as  illustrations  of  the  beauties  of 
religion  and  the  glories  of  the  church. 

*'  The  wilderness  and  the  solitai-y  places  shall  be  glad 
for  them,  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  like 
the  rose.'' 

*'  The  mountains  and  the  hills  shall  break  forth 
before  you  in  song,  and  all  the  trees  of  the  fields  shall 
clap  their  hands.  Instead  of  the  thorns  shall  come  up 
the  fir  tree,  and  instead  of  the  briar  shall  come  up  the 
myrtle  tree,'* 

The  power  and  beauty  of  the  same  objects  appear  in 
the  Saviour's  teachings.  The  fir  and  the  olive,  the 
sparrow  and  the  lily  of  the  field,  give  peculiar  force  and 
beauty  to  the  great  truths  they  were  used  to  illustrate. 

The  Bible  throughout  is  remarkable  in  this  respect. 
It  is  a  collection  of  books  written  by  authors  far  removed 
from  each  other  in  time,  and  place,  and  mental  culture, 
but  the  whole  nature  is  exalted  as  a  revelation  of  God. 
Its  beauty  and  sublimity  are  appealed  to  to  arouse  the 
emotions,  to  reach  the  moral  and  religious  nature.  This 
element  of  unity  runs  through  all  the  books  where  re- 
ference to  nature  can  be  made. 

One  of  the  adaptations  of  the  Bible  to  the  nature  of 
man  is  found  in  the  sublime  and  perfect  representation 
of  the  natural  world,  by  which  Nature  is  ever  made  to 
proclaim  the  character  and  perfections  of  God.  No 
language  can  be  written  that  so  perfectly  sets  forth  the 


UNIVERSITY 

grand  and  terrible  in  nature  and  its  forces  a=?  we  hear 
God  answers  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind.  No  higher  ap- 
preciation of  the  beautiful,  and  of  God  as  the  author  of 
beauty,  was  ever  expressed  than  when^our  Saviour  said 
of  the  lilies  of  the  field:  **  I  say  unto  you,  that  even 
Solomon,  in  all  his  glory,  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of 
these;  and  then  adds:  ''  If  God  so  clothed  the  grass  of 
the  field '' — ascribing  the  elements  of  beauty  in  every 
leaf  and  opening  bud  to  God's  skill  and  power. 

There  are  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  words  in  the 
English  language.  Professor  Muller  says,  '*  eloquent 
speakers  use  about  ten  thousand;  Milton  uses  eight 
thousand;  about  five  thousand  are  used  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament; and  well  educated  persons  use  from  three  to 
four  thousand."  By  well  educated  persons  is  meant 
graduates  of  colleges.  No  estimate  is  given  of  the 
number  used  by  uneducated  people,  but  the  average,  if 
it  could  be  got  at,  would  be  found  very  low,  too  low 
altogether.  There  should  be  in  general  use  among  us  in 
what  are  called  the  common  walks  of  life,  about  three 
thousand  words.  They  should,  and  could  be  plain  sub- 
stantial words,  yet  expressive  of  an  elevated,  refined 
and  pleasant  range  of  thought.  And  for  this  the  whistle 
and  song  of  the  plowman  and  mechanic  would  be  all 
the  merrier  as  they  plied  t  leir  respective  avocations, 
and  their  lives  be  purer  and  better;  and  so  of  their  wives 
and  children;  and  the  acquisition  of  this  vocabulary  could 
be  made  one  of  the  very  pleasantest  pastimes.  The  study 
of  mathematics,  even  beyond  the  possible  requirements 
of  the  pupil  in  after  life,  has  always  been  urged  on  the 
ground  that  the  study  disciplines  and  invigorates  the 
mind.  The  author  has  not  the  least  intention  to  depre- 
ciate the  noble  science  of  mathematics.  The  memory  of 
his  keen  relish  for  algebra  is  still  fresh  in  his  mind. 
But  the  mental  drill  of   tracing  and  defining   words  if 


[     46     ] 

pursued  to  tlie  same  extent  is  at  least  its  equal,  and  it 
not  only  makes  the  mind  vigorous  and  active,  and  ready 
to  perceive  and  analyze,  but  there  is  a  zest  about  it  that 
makes  cheerful  both  sou  and  body.  And  then  the 
knowledge  acquired  by  the  study  of  words  comes  into 
use  perpetually,  while  mathematical  knowledge  is  only 
of  special  use,  and  indeed,  many  individuals  seldom,  use 
even  the  simplest  branch  of  the  science.  But  more: 
They  who  possess  the  ability  to  use  words  fluently,  carry 
with  them  constantly  a  talisman— a  charm  which  is  a 
sure  pass — to  the  good  graces  of  all  with  whom  they 
converse.  The  accomplishments  of  music,  dancing,  etc., 
excellent  in  themselves,  are  of  small  value  beside  good 
conversational  ability. 

Let  slang  find  no  abiding  place  in  your  vocabulary. 
A  droll  word  comes  in  very  pleasantly  occasionally,  in 
conversation  and  in  writing,  and  especially  in  social 
letters,  but  the  frequent  use  of  slang  raises  up  a  terrible 
stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  bringing  the  proper  word 
to  the  tongue  at  times,  and  in  places  that  slang  will  not 
do,  and  drolleries  themselves  should  be  used  very  spar- 
ingly to  be  relished.  Carelessness  amounting  to  sloven- 
ess  in  the  use  of  language  is  a  great  fault,  but  a  little 
indifference  to  stiff  preciseness  is  not  to  be  censured,  in 
fact  it  may  add  a  zest  to  your  conversation  or  writing. 

You  will  find  urgent  injunctions  on  all  sides  to  be 
original.  But  it  is  a  great  help  to  a  talker,  or  writer,  to 
be  familiar  with  what  others  have  written,  and  to  be 
able  to  quote  their  language  readily.  Originality  in 
thought  and  language  are  invaluable  traits  in  a  writer 
or  speaker.  It  is  these  that  elevate  ^ their  possessor 
above  the  average,  and  distinguishes  him.  Cultivate 
originality  by  all  means.  Depend  upon  yourself  for  the 
clothing  of  your  thoughts,  and  with  the  thoughts  of 
others  for  working  material;  think  for  yourself.    The 


f    47    1 

clergyman  of  whom  the  following  anecdote  is  told,  wag 
perhaps  a  little  too  self-dependent.  Having  through 
absent  mindedness  arrived  one  Sunday  morning  at 
church  without  his  prepared  sermon,  and  there  being  no 
time  to  send  for  it,  he  said  to  his  congregation  by  way 
of  apology,  that  he  would  have  to  depend  upon  the 
Lord  for  what  he  might  say  this  morning,  but  that  in 
the  evening  he  would  come  better  prepared. 

Enlarge  your  vocabulary  and  the  expansion  of  your  in- 
telligence will  be  a  most  charming  surprise  to  yourself. 
Words  are  embodied  thoughts,  and  each  newly  learned 
word,  not  only  increases  your  knowledge  by  as  much  as 
the,  to  you,  new  thought  it  embodies,  but  begets  other 
thoughts,  and  these  others,  and  so  on  without  limit. 
Don't  be  afraid  of  ^-dictionary  words";  or  of  *' big 
words. ''  Let  the  addition  to  your  stock  be  good  com- 
prehensive words,  hig  with  meaning,  and  select  them 
without  reference  to  their  length.  If  this  little  book 
does  nothing  more  than  persuade  each  into  whose  hu,nds 
it  falls  to  enlarge  his  or  her  vocabulary,  it  will  be  worth 
to  him  or  her  a  hundred  fold  its  price. 

The  few  following  suggestions  for  letter  writing  might 
have  been  placed  under  the  head  of  composition,  but 
this  part  of  the  book  has  been  selected  in  preference. 
Business  letters  should  be  as  short  as  possible,  and  the 
words  should  mean  exactly  what  you  wish  to  say. 
Social  letters  and  all  other  than  business  letters  can 
run  on  in  a  free  and  easy  conversational  manner,  much 
in  the  way  you  would  talk  to  the  person  were  the  per- 
son present;  taking  however,  a  little  more  care  as  lo 
grammar  than  is  common  in  conversation.  The  thoughts 
can  be  jotted  down  just  as  they  occur,  with  but  little  at- 
tention to  their  arrangement  with  regard  to  topics.  If 
cognate*  thoughts  do  not  OQcjf^^n  the  same  part  of   the 

*  Cognate— Related  in  origin;  proceedin'^from  the  same  stock. 


I    48    ] 


letter,  jot  them  down  when  they  do  occur,  introducing 
the  subsequent  thoughts  with  some  such  phrase  as,  I 
should  have  said  before,  or  it  just  occurs  to  me  now,  or 
I  should  have  said  above.  In  letter  writing  as,  in  fact, 
in  all  other  composition,  your  style*  tvill  be  your  own. 
You  may  correct  a  halt  or  an  awkwardness  in  your  gait, 
and  improve  it  by  observing,  and  as  far  as  possible  imi- 
tating the  easy  and  graceful  walk  of  another.  So  you 
may  improve  your  style  in  writing,  by  studying  the 
writings  of  some  standard  author  whose  style  you  ad- 
mire; but,  in  the  end  your  style  will  be  unavoidably 
peculiarly  your  own. 

The  following  list  of  latin  phrases  in  common  use  will 
be  found  convenient  for  reference: 


Ab  ini^tiOj'l  from  the  begin- 
ning. 

An^nus  mirayUis,  a  year  of 
wonders. 

Ab  o^vo,  from  the  egg;  i.  e. 
from  the  birth  or  origin. 

Ad  captan^ dum,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  taking,  i.e.  pleas- 
ing. 

Ad  infinitum,  to  an  un- 
limited extent. 

Ad  libitum,  at  pleasure. 

Ad  vaWrem,  according  to 
value. 

AVma  ma' i^fcfy%gentle  mother 

A^mor  pa^trice,  love  of 
country. 


Absents  re^o,  the  accused 
person  being  absent. 

A  fortioWi,  with  stronger 
reason. 

A  j9rio Vi,beforehand;  from 
previous  knowledge . 

A  posterio'ri,  afterwards; 
from  trial. 

Argmnen^tum  ad  hom^inem, 
an  argnment  particularly 
applicable  to  the  person 
to  whom  it  is  offered. 

Aii^di  aVferam  pfar^tenijhesiv 
the  other  side;  i.  e.  hear 
both  sides. 

B(/na  fi'de,  in  good  faith. 


*  Sty]e— Manrer  of  writing  -wUl^  regard  to  language,  or  the  choice  and  ar- 
rangement of  words. 
tTiB  here  sounded  like  sh. 


[     49     ] 


Cui^  bo'no  ?  for  what  good? 

i.  e.  of  what  advantage  ? 

or,     of     advantage      to 

whom  ? 

Cam    muVtis     a'liis,    with 

•  many  others. 
Cum  jmvile/gio,  with    pri- 
vilege. 
Cacoe'thes  scriben'di,  a  ridi- 
culous fondness  for  wri- 
ting. 
Ca'put  mor'tUitm,  the  life- 
less head. 
Coet'eris  par'ibus,  the  other 

things  being  the  same. 
Com'pos  men' lis,   of  sound 

mind. 
Con'tra  ho'nos  mo'res,  con- 
trary to   good    manners. 
Co'pia   verbr/rum,    abund- 
ance of  words. 
Defac'to,  in  fact. 
Dajii're^  by  right. 
De  gas'tibus  non  disputan'- 
dam,    about    matters    of 
taste  it  is  idle  to  dispute. 
De'i  gra'tia,  by  the   grace 

of  God. 
De  nc/vo,  anew. 
De/o  volen'te,  God  willing. 
De'sunt  ca^r era, the  rest  are 
wanting. 

*  Pronounced  fcy» 


Dram'aiis     perhv'iice,     the 
characters  represented  in 
a  play. 
DuraiVte  placiUo,     during 

pleasure. 
Ec'ce    ho' mo,     behold   the 
man!    See  M.  T.  John  xix. 

5. 
Ex  nn'imo,  from  the  mind  ; 

i.  e.  siiDcerely. 
Ex  calhe'dra.hovn  the  chair 

of  authority. 
Ex  conces'sis,  from   points 

conceded. 
Ex'eunt    om'ne,^,    they   all 

go  out  or  off. 
Ex  offi'cio,  by  virtue  of  the 

office. 
Ex  par'te,  on  one  side  only. 
Ex  pod  foe' to,  (bad  Latin), 

after  the  deed . 
Fac  sim'ile,  an  exact  copy. 
Ge'nius  lo'ci,  the  gCDius  of 

the  place. 
Id  ge'nus   om'ne,    all  that 

class  or  sort. 
In  for'ma  jmu'peris,    as   a 

pauper. 
In  lim'ine,  on   the  thresh* 

old;  at  the  outset. 
Ino'iio,  at  ease. 
fn  pro'pria  per'sond^  in  his 
own  person. 


[     50     J 


In  sfa^tu  quo,  in  the  state  in 
which  it  was. 

In  ferro^rem,  as  a  warning. 

fn  to' to,  entirely. 

In  transitu,  on  the  wa}'  or 
passage. 

Ip'se  dix'il,  literally , he  him- 
self said  so;  mere  asser- 
tion. 

Ip'so  facHo,  by  the  fact 
itself. 

Jufr^e  divi'no,  by  a  divine 
right. 

JaWe  hwma'no,  by  human 
law. 

Jus  gen^tiwm,  the  law  of 
nations. 

Lap'sns  Un^guod,  a  slip  of 
the  tongue. 

Lex  talio^nis,  the  law  of  re- 
taliation . 

LicenHia  va^um,  poetic 
license. 

Lo'cnm  te'nens,  literally^ 
holding  the  place  ;  a 
substitute. 

Lu/sus  natiiWce,  a  sport  or 
freak  of  nature. 

Mag'na  char^ta,  (karta),  the 
great  charter. 

Ma'lam  in  se,  an  evil  in 
itself. 

Memen'to  mo^ri^  remember 
that  thou  must  die. 


Me'urn  et  tu'iun,  mine  and 

thine. 
Mir  ah' He  dic'ta,  strange  to 

tell. 
31/ das  operan'di,  the  man- 
ner of  operating. 
MuVtam  in  par'vo,  a  great 

deal  in  a  saiall  space. 
Ne  plas  uVira,  the  greatest 

extent  a'tainable;  lUei^al- 

ly,  nothing  beyond. 
Ne    quid   ni'inis,    not    too 

much  of  one  thing. 
No'lens    vo'lenSj  willing    or 

not. 
No'li   me   tan'gere^  do    not 

touch  me. 
Non  com'pos  men'tis,  not  in 

right  mind. 
Noji  est  inventus ^  it  is  not 

found. 
Ostium  cam  dignita'te,  ease 

with  dignity. 
Par    nob' He    fra'tram,     a 

noble  pair  of  brothers. 
Pa'ri  pas'sa,    with     equal 

pace. 
Par'ticeps  crim'inis,  a  par- 
taker of  the  crime. 
Per  se,  by  itself. 
Pos'se  coinita'lus,  (bad  Lat- 

(in,  the  civil  force. 
Prisma  fa'cie,  at  first  view. 
Pri^nium  mob'ile,  the  first 


[     51     I 


Pro  a''ris  et  f(/cis,  for  our 
altars  and  homes. 

Pro  h/no  pub'lico,  for  the 
public  goorl. 

Pro  el  co)i,  for  and  against. 

Pro/br'??ia,  for  form's  sake. 

Pro  ra'ta,  in  proportion. 

Pro  tem'pore^  {abbreviated^ 
pro  tern.)  for  the  time. 

(JuLan^tam  suf^Junt,  as  much 
as  is  sufficient. 

Quid  pro  qtLO/dn  equivalent. 

(Jao'ad  hoCf  with  respect  to 
this. 

Quo  an'imo,  with  what  tem- 
per or  intention. 

Pes  pub^lica,  the  common 
weal. 

Rex  et  regi'na,  the  king 
and  queen. 

SVne  di'e,  without  fixing 
the  day. 

Si^ne  qua  non,  (lUeraily, 
without  which  it  cannot 
be  done),  an  indispens- 
able condition. 

Sab  pce^na,  under  fear  of 
penalty. 

Su^i  gen^erlSy  (literally,  of 
its  own  kind),  unique. 


Sam' mum  ho'mun.ihe  chief 

good.       • 
Sa'um  GuVque,  (ky'quy),  to 

every  one  his  due. 
Tern' pus  fa' git,  time  flies. 
2 o' lien  qao'ties*^  as  often  as. 
IVto  cce'lo,  by  the  breadth 

of  the  sky. 
TrI'ajanc'ta  in  un'o,  three 

joined  in  one. 
U'na  vo'ce,  with  one  voice. 
U'tile  cam  dal'ci,  the   use- 
ful with  the  agreeable. 
Ut  sa'pra,  as  above. 
Ut  infra,  as  below. 
Va'de     me'cam,     (literally, 

come  wiih  me),  a  guide- 
book. 
Ve'ni,  vi'di,  vi'ci,  I   came, 

saw,  conquered. 
Ver'bmn   sapien'ti,  a   word 

is  enough  to  the  wise 
Vi'ce  ver'sa,  the  order  being- 

reversed. 
Vi  el  ar'mis,  with  force  and 

arms. 
Vi'va  vo'ce,  with  the  living 

voice. 
Vox,  elprete/rea  ni'hil,  voice 

and  nothin^f  else. 


The  author  of  this  book  will  take  pleasure  in  corres- 
ponding with  any  of  his  patrons  who  have  special  im- 
pediments to  acquiring  the  correct  use  of  words,  that 


*Iu  tlicsj  words  I  is  sounded  like  sh. 


I     52     ] 

the  book  does  not  seem  to  reach,  with  a  view  of  re- 
moving huch  fmpediments.  Often  where  special  hin- 
drances exist,  the  slightest  hint  or  suggestion  clears 
away  the  difficulty  and  make  subsequent  progress  easy. 


